


Party Time in the Pressure Cooker

by needleyecandy



Series: Fated [5]
Category: Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Blended family, Butt Plugs, Double-headed Dildos, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Incest Kink, M/M, Oral Sex, Rimming, Rough Sex, Sexsomnia, Sexual Roleplay, Stoned Sex, deep penetration, pretend coercion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 16:20:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 52,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4269927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needleyecandy/pseuds/needleyecandy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College is still hard, yes. But as juniors, Thor and Loki have gotten most of their requirements out of the way and can focus on  their majors. It's more work, but way more fun. And that's nothing compared to the fun they have together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to college! They get started on the right foot. Which is, of course, not on their feet at all.

The sun was warm through the glass. A little on the hot side, maybe, but all it really did was make the cool air pouring from the vents feel even better. Thor had fiddled under the hood so that Loki's car, despite being old and more than a little crappy, was purring like a kitten and the A/C was back in action. Which was good, because the Indian Summer was in full blast and while there were many delightful ways of getting sweaty together, four hours sitting in a hot car was most definitely not among them. 

Four hours with air conditioning and good music and more time to talk than they had had in ages, though? That was good. Really good, to be there together and talk about nothing, just pointing out bumper stickers and making fun of stupid billboards and playing I Spy. 

Loki had gradually become aware of the fact that being with Thor didn't wear him out like other people did. Or maybe it had happened slowly and his realization had come with it. However it had happened, he liked it. On a practical note, it was convenient, since they lived together; on a personal note it meant... well, it meant a lot. 

So yes. The drive was good, indeed. As they walked to the car, Loki had offered Thor the keys, dangling them from an outstretched finger and grinning playfully. 

Thor shook his head. "I will if you don't want to, but it would be really nice to ride, for a change. Anyway, you know I like to watch." 

Loki's smile broadened. "Once I hit fifth, I don't slow down," he teased. 

"That's my favorite part," Thor said. 

There was a flurry of hugs and a bunch of back-slapping (from Odin) and cheek-pinching (from Frigga) and promises of care packages and phone calls, and they were off. 

Despite what he had said about staying in fifth, the traffic was choppy for the last hour, and Loki spent it shifting almost constantly. He could feel Thor's gaze on his hand and did his best to make it look extra good, stretching his fingers to show off their slender length, caressing the knob like it was a knob of a different sort altogether. 

Also, despite what he had said about staying in fifth being his favorite part, a quick glance at his lap said he liked this very much as well. 

They parked a few blocks away from campus. The plan was for Loki to wait in the car while Thor took the first load of stuff, scouting out whether there were any official-looking people around. As long as the coast was clear, Loki would start helping with the rest of their things. It was a bit of a time sink, but better than getting caught. 

The elevator was still locked, since the official move-in day wasn't until the end of the month. Thor had gotten a letter saying that he could get someone to unlock it, which would have been great, had Loki actually been allowed to be there. It was stupid, that an athlete could move in but their roommate couldn't. As long as Loki managed to lay low, everything would be fine. 

Loki had decided to try Steve's method of studying - he already had all his books, and he was going to read them all while Thor was at practice. Then Thor would come home and he'd be all floppy and tired and Loki would be relaxed and energized (somehow reading tended to make him feel both) and Thor would fall into bed all lazy and Loki would climb on top of him all lively and Thor would lie there and let Loki do what he wanted and they would both love it. 

On the second trip - the first with Loki - Thor balanced his boxes on one hand while he unlocked their door with the other. They walked in and Thor set down his load in the corner while Loki followed him in and stopped short. 

"What happened? I thought we cleaned up before we left." 

He looked so shocked that Thor couldn't help laughing. "We did. This is after cleaning." 

Loki blinked. "Oh. Well, I guess we were really busy." 

"Yeah." 

"I can clean some, while you're at practice." 

"Thanks, babe." 

It wasn't as hot as it was back in Beuley, so they managed to carry their three (four, for Thor) loads of stuff with only the tiniest bit of sweating. Just enough to gild perfect cheekbones, just enough to send a single bead running downwards. Loki watched it go. After the last load was in, Loki locked the door and backed Thor against the wall so he could chase the sweat with his tongue. Thor made a low sound in his chest. Loki could feel the vibration with his tongue more than he could hear it. He started to tug at the hem of Thor's shirt, but Thor caught his hands and stopped him. 

"Can I watch you?" Thor asked. 

"Watch me what?" Loki asked. 

Thor snorted. "Oh, come on. After all that driving? You get one guess." 

"Oh, you still like that?" Loki asked. He tried his best to keep a straight face, but one side of his mouth quivered just the tiniest bit. Just enough for Thor to see. 

"I do, and you know I do," he said. 

Loki pretended like he needed to think about it, sucking thoughtfully on an elegant fingertip. "What's it worth to you?" he asked. "Seeing me lying there naked in our bed, touching myself... maybe I'll slide my finger inside, maybe I'll say your name when I do it... what's it worth to you to see that?" 

It wasn't that Thor was getting harder to manipulate sexually - his reaction to Loki's words was every bit as strong as it would have been a year ago. But when you're being manipulated by the best, you might as well take some notes. Thor had always been a good student. He leaned a little closer, just enough to growl into Loki's ear. "You'll get a reward, but you have to earn it. The longer you make yourself wait, the harder you come, the better the reward. So the real question is, how much do you want to earn?" 

Either the air had been sucked out of the room as Thor spoke, or Loki's lungs forgot how to work. Something was making it impossible to breathe as he walked backwards to the bed, pulling Thor with him. He tripped on a shoe in the middle of the floor and collapsed onto the bouncy mattress, trying very hard to look like he'd done it on purpose. He was halfway out of his shirt when he felt Thor attacking his belt, pulling at his jeans and underwear before he'd gotten his shoes off. He sat up and they each took a foot, and then he was naked and shoving at the blankets and stretching out in the cool sheets as Thor pulled a desk chair over to watch. 

Loki gave Thor a wolfish smile as he pulled open the drawer to find the new bottle of lube he'd stowed there in May as a welcome back present. He set next to his pillow as he laid back down and looked at Thor. Thor's hair was a little limp from the humidity, but it still looked soft, and it glowed where a narrow stripe of sunlight hit him. His lips were rich and red, so kissable Loki could have gotten lost in the thought. His jawline and his cheekbones were strong and perfect, and his eyes were dark and hungry as they watched Loki's cock growing slowly thicker as it lay against his thigh. Loki reached down and ran his finger up the vein that throbbed beneath his skin. Thor's lips parted as he watched, barely enough to see, but there. 

"You like that, do you?" Loki asked. 

Thor tore his eyes away to meet Loki's. "You know I do," he said. His voice had gone lower and husky, giving away how very much he liked It. 

Loki gently coaxed it to its full size and firmness before pausing to open the lube. He slicked his palm and started to work himself harder, his grasp tighter and strokes faster. There were no sounds but the wetness of his skin and their combined breathing, rough and demanding. He did not stop again until the first drop of precome pearled the tip. He caught it and brought it to his mouth. Thor watched, unblinking, as he curled his tongue around the shining fingertip before sliding it between his lips. It didn't really do anything for him, but he found himself picturing Thor doing the same thing, and _that_ thought... it did very, very much, and he found himself moaning softly. 

Loki rose to his knees and turned around to rest on his chest and knees before running a thick strip of lube along his finger. He reached back and watched Thor staring, unblinking, as it disappeared. It wasn't really the best angle for fingering himself, but Thor loved to see him like this, hips raised and wanton. He slid out, and as he pressed back in, Thor's name was on his lips. His fingers were slender, and the third time, he used two fingers. These he twisted and spread, beginning to scissor himself open. He was intentionally ignoring his cock, letting it twitch against the heated sheets as he added a third finger and focused on the careful stretching. Thor's gaze darted all over, taking in everything he could - the disappearing fingers, the widening wet patch his cock was making, dark on the sheets. Thor met Loki's eyes for a moment and licked his lips unconsciously. Loki knew his own eyes were glazed, knew that his skin was reddening, knew it just as surely as he knew that his lips were open and his breath was coming in harsh erratic pants. 

Thor glanced at the clock and swore. "Okay, baby. I want to watch you come before I have to leave." 

"Maximum reward?" Loki demanded. It was kind of hard to talk while he was teasing himself like this, not to mention the fact that his face was sort of half-smushed in the pillow, but he was determined. 

"Okay. You've earned it." 

Finally wrapping his fist back around his cock felt amazing, and he began to stroke it with the firm, hard jerks he liked when he was close. The fingers he had buried inside himself were still moving, but erratically, any hope of an even rhythm lost as he came, panting and gasping into the hot pillow as he felt his cock pulse with the thick jets of come and his opening constricting in equally sharp pulses. 

When it was over he couldn't even move enough to fall to his side; he simply sank downwards, his arms falling limply to his sides, his hips still high. He could feel now how open he was, with the way the cool air kissed the delicate tissues it so seldom reached. It was twitching, too, just like his cock, and his body shook with his ragged breathing. 

"That was gorgeous," Thor said, rising from his chair. "Now look at you, though, all stretched out and open, right when I have to leave. Don't worry. I know how to take care of you." 

Loki cocked an eyebrow as Thor dug through their luggage. When he stood back up, he had a broad grin and Loki's plug. He coated it in a generous layer of lube and pushed it easily into place, the widest part eliciting a quiet sound of protest as it slid across over-sensitive nerves. 

"I know," Thor said soothingly. "But just keep this in for me, okay? I should be back in a couple of hours. If you're going to get the reward you've earned, I need you to still have this in when I get back." 

Loki mumbled his agreement. 

Thor went into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. Loki got up and followed him -walking _very_ carefully - knowing that Thor was trying to calm himself down before he left, and knowing that that would be much more difficult with Loki standing right there, eyes still blown black and skin still flushed. It was really only fair. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor tries something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Thor somehow managed to arrive a few minutes early despite walking slowly across campus and forcing himself to recite the table of elements until his erection had quieted. This first meeting of the year was always in the conference room, where coach would start out by welcoming everyone and explaining the university's standards and expectations for student athletes, followed by a long round of introductions. Thor sat between Hogun and Volstagg, with Fandral turned around in the seat in front of them, catching up until coach called them all to order. 

"We should get together for dinner," Volstagg suggested when everything was over and people were starting to trickle out. 

"I'd like to, but Loki came back with me, and I don't want to abandon him," Thor said, quietly enough he wouldn't be overheard. 

"Bring him along! There's a new pizza place in St. Sigfrid that's supposed to be really good, and he won't have to worry about being caught over there," Volstagg said. 

"Pizza is the magic word. Lemme just text him and ask." 

The answer came quickly. _Yes but only if you come home and fuck me first seriously Thor I'm dying here_

"He just had a snack, so he's not hungry right now. Can we go around seven?" Thor asked. 

"I still have to unpack, too," Fandral said. "Hogun, how about Volstagg and I come over to your room at seven and then we can run by Mews to get them?" 

Hogun had gotten a used van and - based on all the pictures he posted - seemed to have spent nearly all his free time over the summer tricking it out. He nodded his agreement as they got up to go. 

Thor took the long way back to the dorm, just in case Loki was looking out the window. He needed to make a stop before he got back to the room, and he definitely did not want Loki knowing how long it had taken him to get there. He'd never done this in a bathroom stall before, and it wasn't exactly the scenery of fantasies, but he worked efficiently and got back to their room with only two texts on his phone telling him to hurry up. 

Loki was still in bed and still naked. If it weren't for the clean and dry sheets, he would look as though he'd moved just enough to flop sideways. "Finally," he huffed. "Get naked and come _here._ " 

"Aww, did you get impatient waiting for me?" Thor teased. 

Loki growled. 

Thor laughed and got naked. 

Loki didn't look surprised when Thor straddled his waist and leaned down for a kiss. He hadn't showered, and he smelled like fresh sweat and sex. The heady scent shot straight to his cock and he breathed deeper as their lips met. Loki's hands shot up into Thor's hair, fingers tangling between golden locks and pulling at him to deepen their kisses, his tongue hot and eager as it slid between Thor's lips. Thor breathed in every one of Loki's rough little sighs, giving them back as his own harshened breaths. He pictured it, the air going back and forth between them, easing between their bodies in quiet intimacy. The thought made his pulse race. 

Loki didn't look surprised when Thor moved forwards to rub his cock across Loki's face. His skin was roughened with stubble, and Thor had to be careful to keep the touches light and easy. It was gorgeous, though, simply gorgeous to see the thin streaks of clearness gleaming across his cheekbones where Thor's cock was beginning to leak. He brought it to Loki's lips and pushed gently. 

"Mm-mm," Loki told him, turning his face away with a playful smile. 

"Come on, get it good and wet for me," Thor said, twisting to follow his motions. 

"I'm the one who's supposed to be getting rewarded," Loki said through his clenched jaw. 

"Just think how inspired I'll feel when I see my cock disappear between those hot lips of yours," Thor said. "No one else has ever looked half as good sucking a cock as you do." 

Appeals to Loki's vanity were consistently reliable. (Thor suspected that Loki did it on purpose, like in training a pet, but since it always got Thor what he wanted, he wasn't about to question. He also suspected that Loki knew he knew, and that this was a silent and endlessly delightful game they played together.) Thor pushed against Loki's lips again, and this time, Loki opened to take it. His mouth was hot and slippery and his tongue was everywhere at once and it would be so easy to just stay here, sliding in and out, a little deeper each time, but he had a promise to keep. He pushed forwards, not going all the way in - that was something Loki had to work up to, if he was to do it without choking - but far enough that Loki put a warning hand against his thigh. He held there for a few seconds, greedy gaze taking in the sight of Loki's mouth stretched wide around him, eyes closed in bliss, before he pulled away. 

Loki didn't look surprised when Thor grabbed a strip of cloth from their bedside drawer and blindfolded him. They had done this many times together, taking turns on who would be plunged into private darkness, all the more naked for being seen without seeing, their imaginings and desires setting their bodies vibrating until the pleasure of anticipation was turned to the ecstasy of touch. 

Loki _did_ look surprised - as best as Thor could tell, past the blindfold - when Thor leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Tell me if you don't like anything," he said. But before Loki had a chance to question, Thor was taking hold of his cock and sliding down on it and Loki was arching his back and thrusting up into him with a gasp. 

"You- you did yourself-" Loki panted. 

"In the bathroom on the first floor," Thor answered. He made a small circle with his cock, savoring the low hum of pleasure it gave him. It was so easy to forget this. It was so easy to be drawn to the sparkling ecstasy of thrust and withdraw, firm cock dragging over singing nerves. Not today, though. Today he wanted to hold on to an achingly slow build until it was impossible to resist chasing that fiercer bliss. 

With the next twist, Loki's mouth fell back open and he brought his hands to rest on Thor's hips. He didn't take control, as he sometimes did like this; he let Thor continue to move as he liked, all dreamy swirls and graceful figure eights. His hands were there simply to take in the feel of Thor's motions from without as well as within. 

It was a good sign, but he still wanted to make sure. "Is it okay, with this?" Thor asked, tapping lightly on the end of the plug that was still buried inside of Loki. It had felt like a light tap to him, anyway. Loki made a harsh animal sound and thrust upwards so hard Thor nearly lost his balance. 

"Do that again," Loki hissed. 

Thor usually hated it when people answered yes-or-no questions with something other than one of those options. He did not hate it this time. He reached back and tapped again, harder. Loki's fingers dug into his hips as he sobbed and bucked erratically, each surge upwards seeming to go deeper, farther. 

_Dreamy_ and _graceful_ were forgotten as Thor moved with him, tensing his powerful thighs to raise himself and then dropping to meet Loki's thrusts. The everyday sounds of an empty campus that drifted in the open window - birds, the occasional car, a chainsaw somewhere in the distance - faded away beneath the noises of breathing and begging and the wet slaps of skin on skin. 

Thor grasped his cock and began to stroke it, short, sharp jerks that couldn't quite match the rhythm of his tapping fingers. Both hands stuttered, and Loki whined in protest. It was impossible to think, he was too close, he had to, he _had to_ , and he grabbed hold of the base of the plug and started pushing and pulling as he worked himself, hoping desperately that this felt good too. 

This felt good too. Loki bent almost in half, his body curling up as his hands pulled Thor tighter onto his cock, and Thor could feel himself being filled with heat. Each burst seemed to go further inside him, and his climax hit as he pictured Loki's come flowing deep within. His forehead sagged onto Loki's shoulder. "Fuck, yes, Loki, fill me up, oh God," he panted. 

Loki's breath was ragged in his ear, harsh gulps for air that hit with each erratic jerk of his body, each matching jet of hidden white. 

His orgasm subsided with Loki's, over more quickly but no less glorious for its brevity. Loki melted into the mattress and Thor slid carefully off his softening cock and let himself fall to the side. "I like it when you call me God," Loki said. His voice was shaking yet, but his smile was lazy and assured. Loki pulled him closer and Thor rested an arm across his waist, feeling each other's hearts slow back to normal. 

"What time is it?" Loki asked at last. 

Thor glanced up at the clock. "Oh, no. We only have half an hour to shower and get ready," he groaned. (Not to mention that he was feeling really drippy. The head on his shoulders was clearly not the one that had planned this whole thing.) 

"Ugh," Loki complained. He tugged off the blindfold and stumbled to the bathroom. Thor could the plastic sound of something being dropped into the sink, followed by the water running. By the time he got back into the room, his legs had nearly stopped their trembling, but his smile had returned as he bent down to rummage through their luggage. He stood up, holding Thor's plug like a trophy. 

"Justice," he said. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor is sometimes a bit of an open book, for the one who knows how to read between the lines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is some indulgent fluff that I meant to post yesterday, but something at my job ran way late, so instead of welcoming Monday this chapter will see it out. Enjoy!
> 
> (Also, I'm tired and barely proofread, apologies for mistakes.)

"Do you want me to go first and make sure it's clear?" Thor asked. 

Loki shook his head. "By the time you got outside, someone could be in the hall up here. I'll just make a run for it." 

They lay across the bed, peering out the window as they waited for the van to arrive. A terrible noise, somewhere between a woodchopper and a vomiting predator, turned out to herald its arrival. 

"That's it!" Thor said. 

Loki stared down in horror. "I really thought better of him," he said. 

"I told him if he did the parts that showed, I'd help with under the hood," Thor explained. That didn't help. In truth, the sound was the least horrible part of it. 

Thor nudged him out of his daze. "Should we go for it?" 

"Yeah, I guess. We might as well get this over with." 

They stood up. Loki's movements were noticeably more graceful than Thor's. 

"Maybe give me a little head start?" Thor suggested. 

Loki smirked and flourished his arm towards the door. "You've got thirty seconds." He watched Thor walk down the hall to the stairs. "You have to walk better than that by the time you get outside," he called. 

Thor cast him a radiant smile as he turned into the stairwell. Loki counted thirty seconds before following, finding Thor waiting for him in the second floor stairwell. "What happened to wanting a head start?" Loki teased. 

Thor's answer was a long and lingering kiss. "I needed to do that," he said when they broke apart. "We better go, though, they're waiting." 

They went down the last flight of stairs holding hands. Thor opened the door and gave a quick check before nodding the all clear. 

"Jesus, guys," Fandral said as they tumbled into the van. "You're only on the third floor, did you have to stop and make out in the stairwell or something?" 

"Just a little," Thor said, grinning. 

Loki crawled into the back seat to lie down while Thor took the seat in the middle next to Fandral. He listened as the football players talked about football, hoping desperately that this wasn't how the whole night was going to go. 

"Okay, Loki, it's probably safe to sit up now," Volstagg said. "We're out of town." 

He got a surge of relief when he sat up and Thor and Fandral both twisted in their seats to include him in the conversation, and an even bigger one when the topic shifted from football to something he could actually talk about. 

The van didn't sound nearly as loud inside, and they were maneuvering their way through St. Sigfrid's narrow streets almost before they knew it. The restaurant was down a long tree-lined driveway, with parking in the back. It looked fancier than they had expected, and they got a few looks as they walked in. Loki went first, following the hostess to their table with his head high. Thor followed with a grin. 

"Holy shit. They have fig pizza with gorgonzola. We're getting it," Volstagg announced the moment he opened his menu. 

Loki shook his head. "We're getting two," he said. 

They ended up ordering five pizzas, just to be safe. "If you're sharing, I can bring those in two rounds, so that it doesn't get too cold by the end," offered the server. 

"We'd have more table room, too. Thanks, that would be awesome," Thor said. 

Their drinks came quickly. The maraschino cherry decorating Fandral's coke made it stand out from the rest and he took it with a wink to their server, who smiled back. He ran his hand over the sweating glass and smoothed it across his face, making it glisten. "Man, it's hot. It was so hot yesterday when we had to carry all our stuff," he said. 

Thor laughed. "I did both our stuff, so Loki wouldn't get caught. It wasn't half as bad as it could have been." 

"Fandral likes to make people picture him sweating," Volstagg said to Loki in a stage whisper. 

"I'm just confident about my body. I work hard on it," Fandral said with injured pride. He turned to Loki. "So, how long is it that you have to hide, anyway?" he asked. 

"Nine more days, after today. It'll be a little easier once the first-years move in, because at least there will be more people in the building. I've got six more days where Thor is supposed to be the only one on our floor. There's a few other athletes in the building, but there's maybe fifteen people total who are supposed to be there?" he asked, turning to Thor for confirmation. Thor seemed to know all the athletes on campus. Thor seemed to know everyone. 

They watched Thor count them in his head. "Eighteen, but yeah. Not the kind of crowd you can hide in." 

"You should rig up a pulley in your window, so when you have to go in or out, you can just swing it out there and avoid the stairs. No one ever sees your side of the building, anyway," Fandral suggested. 

"Or you could - oh!" The arrival of the pizzas made Volstagg cut off in mid sentence. 

The table fell into silence as everyone devoured their first few slices. By the time the server came to bring the second round, the conversation was starting to pick up again. 

"You could get a bunch of bang snaps and throw them really far, for distraction," Volstagg said. 

"That might work. I don't know if they weigh enough to throw them that far, though," Loki mused. 

"We could go up to the roof and run a zipline out to the water tower," Thor said. "I could drive out there and pick you up." 

Loki casually leaned back from the table, letting his hand fall under it to run it up Thor's thigh. The two of them had gone out there last spring, wanting to see if they could climb it. They had found it fenced off with razor wire, and Thor had turned to Loki with a grin. _Well, we'd better do something so that this wasn't a wasted trip,_ he had said. His arm casually brushed against Thor's cock. Just as hard as he'd expected. 

"Ziplines only go down. I'd still have to get back inside somehow," he said. 

"Put a bag on your head," Hogun said. 

"A bag?" Thor asked. 

Hogun nodded. "A bag. If they can't prove who they saw, they can't do anything." 

The table went silent. 

"That's actually a good idea. A paper bag with eye holes," Loki said. 

"Your build is pretty distinctive, though," Thor said. 

His _build_. As though Loki didn't know exactly what that meant. His ass. Only two weeks ago - two weeks this very night, he realized - they had been in bed together and Thor had rolled him onto his stomach and proceeded to nibble every inch of his cheeks before starting to lick, telling Loki over and over _This is the most perfect ass I have ever seen, I could do this forever_. 

"But they can't use that as proof." 

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Thor turned to Hogun. "Can we stop somewhere and get one?" 

Hogun nodded. 

"I can't believe we're already juniors," Fandral said. "I still have to do my distributions." 

"What did you do the past two years?" Thor asked. "Mine are all out of the way." 

Fandral grinned. "Oh, I did plenty." 

"I just have to do one more social science. I can't decide which to take," Loki said. 

"You should take archaeology," Thor said quickly. _Ah._ So _that_ was what he wanted when they got home. 

"That would be fun," Loki said with a smile. "But for a class, I feel like I want something that goes with my major a little better." 

"There's a new class coming winter term that I'm going to take," Volstagg said. "My advisor is co-teaching with someone from English. It's about the psychology of fictional characters.It's cross-listed, so you can take it as English or as Psych." 

Loki's eyes lit up. "That sounds perfect." 

Volstagg nodded. "I'm looking forward to it too." 

The conversation shifted to what everyone was taking that term, followed by what they'd done over the summer, long enough to carry them to the supermarket and home. 

Hogun pulled up in front of Mews with enough screaming from the brakes that Loki silented vowed to get out a block away next time. Or perhaps on one of the narrow roads that ran through the woods. 

"Good luck!" Fandral said cheerfully. 

"Yeah, better run for it," Volstagg added. 

Hogun waved as they said their goodbyes and hopped out. 

Loki took off running which meant Thor had to take off running, which meant by the time they were (relatively) safely hidden in the stairwell Thor's pupils had gone black and his chest was heaving. 

"Looks like you need more training, if that little bit of running has you out of breath," Loki teased. 

"You know perfectly well why I'm out of breath," Thor said, starting up the stairs. 

Loki followed. "So," he said, running his hand lightly across Thor's ass, "did this feel good?" 

Thor groaned. "Too good. The whole time we were at the restaurant I just wanted to grab Hogun's keys and drag you out to the van." 

"I'd think that you'd climb the stairs a little faster, then, knowing that what you want is at the end of them." 

That did make Thor speed up, even if he was walking stiffly again now that there wasn't anyone else to see them. He went first onto their floor and nodded to Loki that it was safe. 

Thor opened their door for them. 

Loki closed it behind them and smiled. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor goes to a team party while Loki has some solo fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

"It really is okay. I mean it. I'm happy to stay here and read, just bring me some carryout." 

"I feel bad leaving you." 

"I'd feel worse if you missed the team party because of me. Now go." Loki shoved Thor out the door, planted the car keys in his broad hand, and closed the door in his face. 

"I love you!" Loki's yell was muffled through the wood, but it didn't matter. It was clear enough to hear. 

Thor tossed the keys idly as he went out to the car. Not enough players had cars to technically carry the whole team, and with Loki not coming, that would mean one less person having to sit on the floor of Hogun's van. They all met up at the gym, the drivers lining the curb as the car-less players piled in. 

Thor ended up with some new guys who seemed to hold him in more than a little awe. Two of them seemed content to sit and stare at him, while the third tried desperately to impress. Thor tried, equally desperately, to suppress his amused grins. That was likely why Coach had chosen this outing, he decided, as they pulled up at the address they had been given. 

"Are you sure this is right?" asked Demitrius. They were the first words out of his mouth. 

"668 Arch Street," Thor said, pointing at the sign. 

"We're going to Chuck E Cheese for our team party?" Abe said. He sounded like he couldn't decide between sneering and ennui-ridden, and ended up just sounding _very_ much like a painfully stereotypical first-year. "How old does he think we are?" 

Thor couldn't resist. "I think it'll be fun," he said. 

"Oh, well yeah. I mean, sure, it'll be fun. I haven't been to one in forever, I bet it's going to be a total blast," Abe agreed. Thor wondered what kind of mileage he got with that level of backpedalling. 

And it did turn out to be fun. Coach had rented the whole place, and the tables were strewn with food and pitchers of drinks. They ate with gusto - practice had been extra tough that day, and they'd all worked up an appetite - before turning to the games. The ones for the really little kids had been turned off for the night, but there were still enough that no one was waiting around long. 

Thor mostly played skee-ball and whack-a-mole, the games he was best at, feeling the stack of tickets in his pocket slowly growing. He planned to swipe a wrap and some churros to take home for Loki, but he was pretty sure that the food was going to be a letdown, so he wanted to bring home one of the more fun-looking prizes. Once he'd built up a fat stack he went over to the prize counter, joining the laughing crowd as they pointed and elbowed each other with dares to get the sillier plastic toys. Thor honed in on what he wanted: the rainbow slinky. He needed eight more tickets. He had another plate of wings and went back to the skee-ball row with new determination. 

In the end, he wound up with extra tickets, and returned to the room with the planned food, the slinky, and a bag of cotton candy. It was warm in the room, and Loki was naked, looking relaxed and radiant as he sprawled across the bed reading. He sat up with a smile, and Thor saw his hair was damp and curling, just how he liked it best. He held out his hands. "Dinner?" he asked. 

Thor sat on the edge of the bed next to him. "Presents first." 

***** 

"It really is okay. I mean it. I'm happy to stay here and read, just bring me some carryout." 

"I feel bad leaving you." 

"I'd feel worse if you missed the team party because of me. Now go." Loki shoved Thor out the door, planted the car keys in his broad hand, and closed the door in his face. 

"I love you!" he yelled through the door. 

Thor didn't answer - Loki hadn't expected him to, noise carried too easily through the halls in this building - and Loki turned away to collect up all his things for some personal fun time. He lit a stick of incense; this one was really strong, but with the windows open and a nice cross-breeze, it left just enough scent hanging in the room to be perfect. Once it was smoldering, the orange tip glowing more brightly with each pleasant gust from outdoors, he lay across the bed and watched for Thor to drive off. Just in case. He loved Thor, but this was something where he preferred privacy. 

As his car purred away, he got up and stripped before pulling open his bottom dresser drawer, the one that he used for storing out of season clothes. The one Thor never had any reason to open, even when he had been nice and done some of Loki's laundry along with his own. The things he wanted right now were buried in the back of the drawer, all the same. 

He got his spare towel from the closet and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind himself, just in case Thor had forgotten something and needed to come back. The door wouldn't buy him much time, but at least he'd have a few seconds to compose himself. 

He did the hair treatment first, working the thick cream through until his head was one big coconutty glob, not a single lock escaping. His face mask had gotten separated in the heat, and he had to stir it with his finger before he could put it on. The lightly fruity scent mingled well with the hair pack (which was why he'd gotten this one, when he was torn between it and the lemon-mint smelling mask) and he smoothed it over his face until only his lips and eyelids stood out in stark color against the white clay. 

Even with the breeze it was still almost uncomfortably warm in their room, so the bath he ran was cool, just enough hot water added to not be a shock. He poured some bubble bath in and let it fill as he went to pour himself a glass (well, a plastic tumbler) of the white wine they had in the fridge, and pick out a book. He skimmed across the shelf where he'd put all his books for this semester before deciding that _Nightmare Abbey_ sounded like good bathtub reading. 

It was good bathtub reading. It would have been perfect bathtub reading, if only he didn't have to pretend he wasn't here, because suppressing his laughter got more and more difficult with every page. He had read nearly the whole thing before noticing that the bubbles had long since popped and that his cold wine was now distinctly tepid. Worst of all, his face mask was really only supposed to stay on for fifteen minutes. He showered quickly, peeking out from behind the curtain as soon as his face was rinsed clear to make sure that it hadn't done anything awful. Fortunately, his reflection looked runny from condensation, but otherwise normal. The hair mask seemed to take forever to shampoo out, as it always did, but it had been a while since he'd gotten to use it, so it was probably fine that it had an extra-long go. His stomach started to rumble and he hushed it, promising it that Thor would be home with dinner soon. 

He was in bed, letting the cool evening air finish drying him off, when he heard the key in the lock. Thor's face, when he came in, had a certain look to it. The kind that said he was hiding something. "Dinner?" Loki asked, hoping that The Look didn't mean Thor had forgotten to bring him his food. 

The mattress dipped slightly as Thor sat down. "Presents first," he said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if Chuck E Cheese is an international thing, or it's just the US that is riddled with them? [Here's a picture of one](http://thepizzafan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Chuck-E.-Cheeses-in-Indianapolis-IN_Inside.jpg), if you're not familiar.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It can be surprisingly easy to talk Loki into things when he's drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry how long it's taken for this... I just haven't been feeling the fluff recently. This chapter definitely opens the way for some very Loki-style fun in upcoming chapters, though, and how could I resist that?

Move-in day for returning students came with a rush of noise and busyness. It was nice to not have to hide anymore, and Loki was glad to see his friends again, and he was even gladder that he didn't have to move in at the same time as that huge rush of people. Much better to spend the day lounging and listening to others work, the arhythmic steps of people laden with too-full boxes, the awkward hallway introductions, the mumbles of people gathering outside his door when they saw Thor's name hanging there. 

Natasha had a few people over that night. She'd gotten a single two floors down from them, and while she didn't have a private bathroom, the room was on the side of the building that hadn't gotten damaged by the fire back in the seventies, so it still had its original old woodwork. Along with the baseboard (everyone had those, though in the redone section of the building it was white-painted particle board), she had crown molding and even a chair rail. They were pitted with pushpin holes and kind of gummy-looking from too many layers of varnish being applied over the years, but as long as they weren't looked at too closely, her room actually seemed pretty fancy. The fact that she had covered her walls with Gentileschi posters rather than the default college-student décor added a lot, as well. 

Loki and Thor were the first to arrive after Clint, who had also homesteaded his room. It had left him free to make snacks while she carried her boxes in and got the room set up. They helped themselves to cups of punch, Clint warning them that it was stronger than it looked. "I like my punch the way I like my Natasha," he said. 

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's not really that strong. Have more than that, Loki," she said as he was filling his cup. He looked at her curiously but she dodged his glance. They sat on the floor, leaning against her desk. 

"So who's coming?" Thor asked. 

Natasha was chewing on a string of red licorice, and it took her a second to be able to answer. "Just a few people. I didn't want it crowded," she answered. "I think you know Sif?" 

"We were on the same floor as her first year," Thor said, pleased that they'd see her so soon after getting back. 

"Oh, cool. And besides her I asked Michael Tyler, Antonina Clark, and Yamana Gupta." 

"Yamana's name sounds familiar..." Loki trailed off. 

"Assistant editor of the school paper. Probably going to be editor next year, as long as the current one manages to graduate on time." 

"That's it," Loki said with a nod. 

"It sucks how many people can't get the classes they need to graduate in four years," Thor said. 

"Yeah, but in Donald's case, it's not that he hasn't been able to get in, it's that he can't pass them. Dumb as a rock," a woman said as she walked in and grabbed a licorice whip. She had a heavy dark ponytail that she pulled over her shoulder as she sat on the floor and leaned back against the desk. 

"Ugh, that sucks," Clint said. 

She nodded. "And if the rest of us don't fix his mistakes on the paper, it makes _us_ look bad. And now his buddy Scott is on academic probation and just quit his column, and I need to come up with another writer for my department in the next three days," she said, biting into the licorice like it was to blame. 

The others trickled in as talk turned to what everyone had done over the summer. The punch _was_ as smoothly powerful as Clint had said, and Natasha had kept refilling Loki's cup every time it got low. 

Antonina jumped when her phone went off. "Forgot I put that on vibrate," she said, and read her text with a faintly self-conscious smile. 

"What's that smile, babe, come on," Natasha teased. 

"It's just this guy, I think he's trying to hook up with me," she said. 

"Uh-huh. I know that smile. You're trying to hook up with him too." 

"Yeah, I am," she agreed. "But I was in a hurry to get over here and I didn't shave my legs, they're all prickly, I think I'm gonna make him wait until-" 

"Oh, please. He'll be too horny to notice," Loki said. "Go." 

She looked at him thoughtfully as she ran a hand down her left calf. "You're right. He will be. I am going to go," she said. She finished her can of sprite and waved goodbye, a chorus of cheers following her out of the room. 

Loki turned away from the door just in time to see Natasha and Yamana giving each other significant looks. "See? Told you," Natasha said. 

"What?" Loki asked, instantly defensive. 

"Natasha said you'd be perfect to write a sex advice column for the paper. Please. If you don't do it, I'm going to be stuck running public domain cartoons. _Please_ ," Yamana begged. 

"You _would_ be really good," Thor said, grinning. 

Loki sighed. "If I did it anonymously, do you think people would figure out it was me?" 

"Will people guess that you are giving up your free time to help others? Nope," Natasha assured him. 

"Hey, I'm nice!" 

"Yeah, but you hide it pretty well," Clint said. 

He sighed again. "Fine. I'll do it." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a couple ideas for advice questions that will be sent to the paper for Loki to answer; please do feel free to add more in the comments. It's not going to be a major feature of this story or anything, but I think it'll be fun.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sleepy happy porn, pretty much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For readers who haven't been reading from the beginning, I added a sexsomnia tag for this chapter. (And if you have been reading from the beginning, I assume you're ok with it.)

Loki was sitting at his desk, glaring at his computer, when Thor got home from practice. 

"Hey, babe," Thor said as he dropped his backpack to the floor. 

"Hi. Tell me again why I agreed to do this?" Loki asked with a sigh. 

Thor swooped down to kiss his cheek. "Because you're nice," he said. 

"Because Natasha got me drunk," Loki grumbled back. "What am I supposed to write when I haven't gotten any questions yet?" 

"Anything you want. Just find something that pisses you off and write about that. It shouldn't be hard." 

"But how do I _pick_?" Loki insisted. 

Thor laughed and pulled him to his feet. "I know, you're spoiled for choice. Come to bed with me and think about it later." 

"Mmm, best advice yet," Loki answered as Thor collapsed on the bed and pulled Loki on top of him. He wiggled a little to get more comfortable and propped himself up with his elbows by Thor's ears. "How was practice?" 

Thor gave him a loud kiss before answering, and gave him more between each word. "Practice - was - very - good." 

"And coach really didn't mind you having to leave early on Tuesdays for lab?" 

"Well, he didn't like it, but he knows that if he makes me pick between classes and football, I'm not going to pick football." 

Loki laughed. "Can you imagine what would happen on this campus if you quit? You'd certainly find out who your real friends are." 

"Yeah," Thor agreed. He sounded sad, and Loki instantly regretted his words. Fortunately he knew a good way to provide a distraction. Thor responded happily to his kisses until he tried to deepen them. "Can I get a raincheck for after dinner? I'm sorry, I'm just so wiped." 

"Sure. You should have two desserts, for energy," Loki told him. Thor _did_ sound tired, but he didn't sound sad anymore, which was what mattered. 

The after-dinner raincheck ended up getting postponed again when Thor fell asleep while Loki was brushing his teeth. He didn't even wake up when Loki had to climb over him to close the curtains. Loki read for a few hours, curled up on the sofa with the small table lamp on its lowest setting. 

He took a moment to look at Thor sleeping before he turned the light off. He looked so peaceful, his hair messed up from the pillow, his jaw loose and relaxed, breathing gently through softly parted lips. So pretty in his sleep. Loki undressed in the dark and slipped between the sheets. 

Loki was woken by a finger pushing into his mouth. _I knew you couldn't resist,_ he thought to himself as he tightened his lips around it and started sucking. Thor grunted and pushed in harder. Too hard. 

Loki jerked away. "Rough can be fun, but not in the middle of the night," he said. "Thor?" 

Thor just grunted again and scooted closer, his erection poking against Loki's leg. _Oh._ That again. Well, that could prove to be fun. He rolled Thor onto his back and slung a leg over to straddle him. 

"Thor. Thor, wake up." 

"Hmm?" 

"Thor, do you want me?" 

"You know I do," he mumbled. 

"No, I mean right now. Do you want me right now?" 

He did, he realized as he woke up more. His cock was ready, swollen and slightly achy and Loki had taken to putting on a little of his scent before bed and he smelled _really_ fucking good. "Yeah," he said. 

Loki grinned into the darkness and lowered his head. It took a couple tries to find Thor's lips, but that was fine, it just meant kissing more of him. Not that he stayed long before kissing his way down. 

Thor's cock was so smooth, the skin indulgently soft against his lips. He wrapped his hand around the shaft like he used to have to do, making sure that it didn't go too far, keeping it all light and easy. He still felt a little floaty, like he was halfway in a dream state, and he really didn't feel like anything too intense. 

Thor arched up into it with a sigh of pleasure. "This is definitely the best way to wake up," he said thickly. Loki purred in response and felt Thor's body answer. 

The room grew filled with the soft sounds of Thor's breathing and wet lips, with the warmth of their bodies, with the rich musk Loki found nowhere but here. He tongued lightly at the slit, making Thor groan. His mouth went salty and he started to suck every so slightly harder, moving his hand just that tiny bit faster. 

Even Thor's orgasm, when it came, was soft and peaceful. His cum spurted as sharply as ever, but his hands on Loki's head stayed easy, and instead of crying out he simply breathed Loki's name, over and over. _Loki, Loki, Loki,_ he breathed, like he could never say it enough. 

When it was done, Loki crawled back up the bed and laid facing Thor. Thor took his hands and held them in his own. 

"It's okay that I woke you up for that? You don't mind?" 

"Well, I did already wake you up for it," Thor said. Loki could hear the lazy smile in his voice. 

"It's not too weird, though, waking up that way?" Loki pushed. 

"I prefer it to you letting me sleep, actually," Thor admitted. "It kind of creeps me out, knowing that my body is doing that stuff to you without my mind being involved." 

"I don't mind it. I think it bothers you more than me, to be honest." 

"Really?" 

"Yes, really," Loki said. There was a hint of gentle laughter in his voice. "It's okay." 

"Then... it's okay with me if you want to wake me up that way. I mean, doing it, instead of asking. Just if you want," Thor said. "It's okay if you don't, too." 

Loki reached for Thor's face in the dark. When he found it, he scooted forwards for a kiss. "We'll see." 

_Fuck yeah,_ he thought. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki's busy with his column, but he's never too busy for Thor.
> 
> Or for roleplaying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Puns and pretend casting-couch coercion ahoy! 
> 
> This chapter is due in part to [this ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTzLVIc-O5E) that popped into my head and wouldn't go away, and honestly, you don't want to have that in your head while reading porn but there it is if you really want to know. 
> 
> This is only minimally proofread, please feel free as always to point out typos. 
> 
> Enjoy!

 

 

 

_My girlfriend can't get off when we're banging, what do I do?_

_-Mangled In A Terrible Woodshredder Accident_

 

_Hi Mangled,_

_I took the liberty of changing your signature to one that I trust is more accurate. (I apologize if the accident was with something other than a woodshredder - I could only guess.) First, I want to thank you for the immense struggle you must have overcome in composing this letter. Clearly you have no fingers or tongue with which to have typed it. Training that voice recognition software to understand your tongueless speech is truly a labor of love which you endured in order to send me this plea for aid. Normally, I would point out that many women need stimulation other than penetration in order to get off, but since you're unable to do that, perhaps it would be kindest to buy her a few different vibrators, to see which one she enjoys? Just don't get her a big dick. She's already got one of those._

 

 

_The chicks at this school are turning into [redacted]. My last **four** hookups they wouldn't go down on me. [redacted] those [redacted]. _

_-Sick of [redacted]_

 

_Hi Sick,_

_I have two pieces of advice, which taken together are 100% guaranteed get you more head:_

_-Have a shower_

_-Have a complete personality transplant_

 

 

_Every time I try to get my girlfriend to try anal, she says 'You first.' How can I get her to see reason?_

_-Needs The Ass_

 

_Hi Needs,_

_Tell her to make sure her strap-on is the same size as your dic_

 

A quick knock on the door made Loki stop typing in mid-word. He looked at the clock on his computer - a few minutes early, but he could make that work.

"Come in," he called.

Thor came in, shutting the door behind himself quickly. He had been wandering the halls, trying to seem like he was looking for someone, until there was no one around to see him knock on his own door.

"Ah, Mister Nordenfalk. Welcome. You're a trifle early, but I like that. I like that you're hungry for it."

"Thank you," Thor said. He crossed the room with quick steps and shuffled his feet nervously as he offered Loki the binder that he held. Loki had put his suit on and slicked his hair severely back. The difference in his appearance made it easier to pretend he was intimidated. "Here are my photos that you said to bring."

"Excellent. Why don't we have a seat and look through them together?" Loki nodded towards the sofa. He watched as Thor swallowed hard before taking a seat. Loki rose smoothly and sat down next to him, just a little too close. Thor looked at the hand that rested on his knee and scolding his cock, which was already responding to their game.

"What's this picture here?"

"That's from when I was in college football, getting the MVP award."

"Mmm, that's nice enough. And these?"

"Action shots from some games I was in."

"Those are useless to me, I can't even tell that it's you."

"I'm sorry, sir," Thor stammered, leaning across Loki to flip forwards. "There's more face shots later on. See? Here's another one."

"Tell me what's going on here. You're laughing, what's the motivation?"

"My mom took that one. It was at a family reunion. I must have been laughing at something my uncle said."

Loki sighed. "So you don't have any professional shots?"

"I... no, I don't. I'm sorry. You just said to bring a photo portfolio. I think I look good in these."

"It's not a question of looking good. You wouldn't even be here if you didn't look good. It's a question of whether you can look natural while you're taking directions."

"I think I can do that. I never minded when coach told me what to do."

"So if a part calls for a love scene, you'll be able to be undressed on the set, surrounded by a whole crew you don't know, and not look nervous?"

"I don't think so," Thor said hesitantly.

"Your tone doesn't really inspire much confidence, Mister Nordenfalk. Or might I call you Thor?" The hand on his knee tightened, just a little, just enough to pretend it hadn't happened when they both knew it had.

"You can call me Thor. And I can do it, I know I can. I just wasn't expecting your question."

"Hmm. Why don't you show me?"

Thor blinked. "Show you?"

"Yes, show me, now. Show me that you can get undressed around a stranger and not have that look on your face."

"You want me to undress?"

Loki leaned back, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "Look. If I'm going to take a risk casting a total unknown - you haven't even done any _cereal_ ads, for fuck's sake - I need to know you can do the job."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Thor said. He paused briefly and shook his head as though clearing out the cobwebs before leaning over to unlace his shoes. Loki was really playing up the asshole façade that was all he ever showed to a lot of people, and while Thor definitely wouldn't want it all the time, just for this little while it was really hot.

"Make it nice," Loki said, sounding bored, as Thor stood to undress.

Yes. _Seriously_ hot.

Loki stayed relaxed against the back of the sofa, crossing his arms loosely and watching with a smirk as Thor kicked off his shoes and tugged off his socks before he began to unbutton his shirt.

Thor's motions were graceful as he stripped, shrugging the just-too-tight button down off his shoulders before taking hold of the neckline of his t-shirt and pulling it over his head. Loki's breath sped up as Thor's stomach was revealed, the smooth golden planes of muscle making it almost impossible not to fall forwards and run his tongue over them. He waited. This would be worth it.

The suit trousers came off more carefully and Thor draped them over the back of a chair to keep them nice. His hands were at the waistband of his boxers, and he was trying to look like he was scared and hiding it, when Loki stopped him.

"You don’t have to do those," he said. "On the set, you'd have some sort of modesty wear."

"All right. Thank you," Thor said. He stood, waiting to be told what to do. Loki savored the lingering seconds before patting the seat next to him. "Come get comfortable," he said playfully.

Thor sat down, leaning back and stiffly mirroring Loki's own relaxed posture. Loki reached over to rub his neck. "Let's talk," he said.

"Okay," said Thor.

"How about you tell me why you want to be actor?" Loki asked.

Thor hesitated before answering. "I feel like I want to explore my creativity, and people keep telling me I should be a movie star, so I thought, why not go for it?"

"That's nice, Thor, but I'm looking for people who _thirst_ for it. Who want this part more than they've wanted anything in their whole life." Loki shifted slightly, letting his legs fall apart.

Thor glanced down at the swell in Loki's pants. Oh, he was enjoying this as much as Thor was. "You want me to-" he said nervously.

"What I want," Loki said, "is for you to show me how much you want this part. How you choose to do that is of course up to you."

Thor nodded and sank to his knees. He moved to kneel between Loki's thighs and reached for his zipper.

"Good, good," Loki praised.

Loki's cock sprang free as Thor tugged his underwear out of the way. The soft black knit sat low on his hips, and the narrow cut made them awkward to adjust. He fumbled slightly and Loki reached down to wrap one hand around his wrist. The long fingers looked so delicate beside Thor's own thick ones, so white against Thor's ever-deepening tan. And then he had Loki's cock out, long and red and ready.

Thor's blue eyes darted between Loki's own green ones and back down to Loki's cock. He bit his lip nervously and it was all Loki could do not to grab his head and pull him for desperate kisses. He realized suddenly that this was the first time they'd had sex without kisses. If they played this game again, he'd have to figure out a way to change that.

"Don't be scared. You can just kiss it, to start with," Loki told him.

Thor leaned forwards and pressed his lips to the head. Loki could even feel him shaking ever so slightly. _Such a good actor, baby,_ he praised silently as he reached up to stroke Thor's hair. Thor met Loki's eyes as he parted his lips, nuzzling wet open-mouthed kisses all up and down the shaft before returning to the head and licking at it with an innocent hesitance that had Loki groaning. He could feel the precum beginning to bead up on the tip of his cock and then Thor was rubbing against it, smearing it around with his lips before opening again to slip down, taking just the head inside.

"Yes, that's right. Show me how much you want it," Loki murmured.

Thor slipped off. "I want it, I want it so much," he said before diving back down. There was salt on his tongue and light musk in his nose and beneath that a scent almost like white grapes, cold and fresh and sweet. It would have been impossible not to want it.

Loki watched him through heavy-lidded eyes as his cheeks hollowed and his head bobbed. Thor was always such a glorious cocksucker. It was at least partly a natural gift, Loki always suspected, but even more, it was way he always poured his whole heart into it. Even when he was trying to feign reluctance, Loki could feel his love in every glide of his lips, every teasing stroke of his tongue. How much of it was the game, and how much of it was Thor, it was impossible to know, but he was getting close more quickly than he was willing.

"Thor- Thor, wait," Loki panted, pushing Thor's head away.

Thor sat back on his heels to look at Loki. His hair was messy and his pupils had blown black and his lips were swollen and red and shiny and he didn't wipe them dry.

"Is there anything else you want to do to show me how much you want it, before we finish our interview?" Loki asked.

Thor glanced down at his own body, the thick swell bulging in his boxers, the damp patch on the front. He caught his thumb in the waistband. "You mean...?" he asked. His eyes were back to looking wide and innocent even as the rest of him was the image of gorgeous dissipation. They really should have been filming this, Loki thought.

"I just want to know your level of dedication," Loki told him. "It's up to you."

"I'll do anything," Thor said.

Loki gestured idly with two fingers and Thor slid the boxers down his hips, pulling them away where they threatened to catch on his cock, and let them fall away. Loki rose to his feet, holding his open pants up with one hand as the other wrapped around the back of Thor's neck and he didn't have a choice, he couldn't help pulling him close for a long, wet kiss. He could taste himself on Thor's lips and thrust his tongue in deeper, sweeping, seeking out every trace. "Along the back," he said.

Thor turned away to position himself at one end of the sofa, his feet spread for stability and his torso stretched along the plush back. They had tried it bent over the arm, which in theory sounded hotter than doing it like this, but they had quickly realized that they were both too tall for that to provide much fun before they started getting cramps from the awkwardness.

Not that Loki had any objections to this, he thought, as he stepped behind Thor to run his eyes over him. Messy blond hair, just ready for Loki to fist his hand in and pull, making Thor arch his back like they both loved. And his back, long and firm and tapering from broad shoulders to a deliciously narrow waist and hips. Just enough flare to those hips that his delicious ass could be the perfect shape. Loki bent forwards impulsively and sank his teeth gently into one cheek. What it did to Thor's breathing was exquisite.

"Are you going to? To f- to fuck me?" Thor asked. That little shake was back in his voice and it made Loki's blood surge hot.

"I am, but I have to get you ready first," Loki told him.

He took Thor's cheeks in his hands and spread them to expose his entrance. It was pink and tight, the furled skin fluttering slightly at the suddenness of the cool air. He exhaled, his hot breath ghosted over it. The first lick was soft, a gentle signal of what was to come. The next was firmer, and long, a broad stripe that ran up and through and past. Loki grinned as the taut muscle twitched slightly under his tongue.

Loki didn't press in even once he had Thor writhing and panting. He teased and pleasured with just his wet tongue and his hot breath and infinite variation. Long stripes with the tip of his tongue, broad passes with the flat of it, circles and darting jabs and a thousand dizzying patterns that left Thor reeling.

Thor moaned when he did finally lick his way inside, his walls so warm and smooth and the whole thing so very deeply intimate. Loki reached behind himself, feeling blindly in his desk drawer for the tube of lube he'd been so careful to put within reach. By the time he found it, Thor's passage was relaxing, and he was no longer having to push each time he wanted to slide in.

He tasted clean and mildly coppery, and the feel of the muscles fluttering delicately around him and the broken sounds that were pouring from Thor's mouth had Loki's eyes falling shut in bliss at the pleasure he was giving. It took a force of will to open them, but he could see the muscles in Thor's back tensing and releasing in response to his efforts and it was too perfect a sight to give it up.

Thor made a faint sound of protest when Loki broke away and stood up, slicking his fingers. His pants fell unnoticed around his ankles. "I thought you wanted my _part_ , Thor," Loki said. He smirked as Thor craned his neck to look back at him as he stood idly stroking his cock.

"I do want your part," Thor answered. "I need it." His voice was ragged and uneven and Loki finished preparing him quickly. Slick fingers slid into him, not taking as long as usual but that was part of the game, and he was still gentle and careful with Thor's delicate opening and that was not the game at all.

"Hold yourself parted for me," Loki told him. Thor did as he was told, his fingers biting into his skin and leaving little white rings around them.

Loki brought his cock into place, resting just at Thor's entrance, and gave himself a moment to simply take in the sight before he picked up his phone. The camera was already set the way he wanted and he held it in one quivering hand as with the other he eased himself slowly inside, the rapid-fire of the shutter offering a staccato counterpoint to their loud rough gasps. He kept it going the whole time he was pushing in, one long unbroken thrust until he was buried as far as he could go. Holding his phone there was way harder than setting up the camera on the tripod and he again found himself wishing he'd just filmed the whole thing. He turned it off and tossed it to the sofa cushion and gave his full attention to Thor.

Thor could feel his legs shaking and found himself glad that they'd given up being bent over the arm of the couch; there was no way he could have held still enough for the camera, no matter how quickly the shutter was firing. He closed his eyes, letting himself focus on the way it felt to be filled up so exquisitely, how the pictures would look when he got to see them. Maybe he would put them into a slideshow and pin Loki down, making him watch it while Thor jerked him off...

"Talk to me, Thor. Tell me how it feels," Loki ordered as he drew back. He went no faster than he had going in, letting the head of his cock drag with luxurious slowness over the firm spot that always made Thor gasp.

"It's perfect. So full, like - _ah!_ \- like it's meant to be there, like I belong like this forever," Thor panted. Loki pulled out completely and Thor gave a soft whimper and pushed back against him.

"Greedy," Loki said. "I like that, that's what I want. And you _do_ belong like this, bent over, ready to receive me, or stretched out around me," he said, his eyes fixed on their meeting point as Thor's body again opened to welcome him.

On the third thrust, Loki reached down to take Thor's cock in his hand. "Good," he purred. "Actors will tell me what they think I want to hear, but this - never - lies," he said, emphasizing his last words with sharp jabs that made him go halfway dizzy.

Loki's usually cool hands had grown heated, and the one that wrapped around his cock was hot and soft and grasping just the littlest bit too tight, the way Thor liked it sometimes. He worked his hips, thrusting back onto Loki's cock, thrusting forwards through the tension in his hand, his motions starting to go ragged as he chased the orgasm that shone just out of reach.

The soft musk that perfumed the room was graced with salt as Loki worked Thor's cock, spreading the precum all over it so that his motions were slick and precise. They fucked harder, Loki urged on by a series of ragged gasps and broken cries. He kept going, harder, harder, until the throbbing in his hand and the clenching around him and the tension in his shoulders warned that Thor's climax was about to hit.

He let go of Thor's cock and froze, buried.

"Oh fuck, Loki-" Thor protested. He had been seconds - the merest _seconds_ \- from the moment of inevitability, and it was almost physically painful to stop so close.

Loki slapped his ass. "Mister Borsson," he corrected.

"Yes, Mister Borsson, give it to me, please," Thor begged.

"How much do you want it?" Loki asked, grinning.

Thor gave a shuddering sob, letting his body go limp in supplication. " _Need_ it... need it so fucking much."

"Yeah? It feels that good, does it?"

"Yes, please..."

Loki took both Thor's hips in his hands and started moving again, slow, shallow thrusts that teased more than granted.

"So good you can come from it? Just from my cock, filling you up, so deep inside..."

"I can try," Thor offered. His voice was ragged and he was slumped limply on the heavy couch, only his hips moving, rising to meet each languid push inside.

"Good," Loki said, leaning forward and fisting a handful of Thor's hair and pulling him back. Thor gasped and arched back, his hands grabbing helplessly at Loki, shoving uselessly at the sweat-soaked hair that clung to his face. Not even trying to hold himself up with anything but his abs. "Fuck," Loki muttered and thrust harder.

Loki could _feel_ how Thor chased his own pleasure - tightening down on Loki's cock, changing his position until Loki was hitting _right there_ every time, and he was so close, Loki could taste how close he was, and held himself back, gritting his teeth and trying to think of anything else, until Thor shook his head in frustration. "I don't think I can this time," he said.

"You may rub off against the sofa," Loki told him. Thor's body stiffened, and Loki briefly wondered if he'd gone too far - they hadn't really discussed any of this beyond the most basic generalities - but then Thor was shifting, moving forwards enough to do as Loki had suggested. Loki watched his body moving fluidly as he coiled and uncoiled, rubbing his cock against the soft cushion, fucking himself on Loki's cock.

It felt weird at first, rubbing off on the furniture, but they had agreed that they wanted to try roleplaying and see where it took them, and Thor couldn't say that it wasn't giving him what he needed. The cushion had just the right amount of give, and the velvet cover felt nearly as good as Loki's skin, and it wasn't long before Thor found himself getting close again.

Loki leaned forwards, curling his free arm around Thor's chest and fixing his lips on the tender skin where Thor's neck and shoulder met. He tasted like fresh sweat and he smelled like Thor and it was perfect, Thor felt so good beneath him and around him and when Thor came with a cry Loki came with him.

Thor's spill smeared across the cloth and over his stomach as he kept moving, pumping his hips even harder to make this last as long as he could. And Loki was coming inside him, and he loved that, he _loved_ it, and when he realizing that each burst was in unison, each hot spurt within him matching his own thick jets, he went half dizzy at the thought. Loki held him tight, his thrusts short and sharp, until they sagged into exhaustion.

Loki uncoiled himself and eased free of Thor's opening, now swollen and pink, the muscle seeming reluctant to let him go. Once he was free Thor straightened his shaky legs and stumbled over to their bed, collapsing on his stomach so he wouldn't drip because it was easier than cleaning up and, even more so, because he liked knowing it was still inside him. Loki settled next to him, taking Thor's hand in his own and brushing gentle kisses over the knuckles.

"That was a mean little thing you did, there at the end," Thor said lazily.

"You didn't like it? I'm sorry, you should have said no. I would have used my hand."

"Didn't like it?" Thor chuckled. "I loved it."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, look what I did. Enjoy!

"I hate how many away games you have this year," Loki said as he snuggled deeper into Thor's arms. 

"I know, baby. I do too," Thor said. He kissed Loki's hair. "But it means a lot of home games next year, that'll be nice." 

"Yeah, but I don't like it now," Loki sighed. 

It felt weird to be going to bed so early on a Friday night when the rest of the dorm was still up and active, getting ready to go out for the evening. But with the team having to be at the gym at four the next morning to be on the bus, there wasn't much choice. At least the people on their floor were being really nice about not having parties when Thor had to get up super early the next morning. 

Loki idly curled some of Thor's chest hair around his finger. "Tell me something I don't know about you," he asked. 

"Like what?" 

"Something embarrassing." 

Thor laughed. His laugh was just as rich and lovely as the day Loki had fallen in love with it. "Why should I do that?" 

"Oh, so I can blackmail you, of course." 

"You'll tell my embarrassing stories if I don't... what?" 

Loki met his eyes and smiled sweetly. "Sexual favors, of course." 

Thor laughed again. "Okay. Umm." He pulled Loki closer and stroked his back absently as he thought, fingers gently running down his spine, fitting between the vertebrae. "Okay. When I was little, I would always beg my dad to take me along when he went fishing with his friends. He finally took me when I was about six, and I was the first one to catch something. Dad helped me reel it in and get the hook out of its mouth, but then he asked me if I wanted to kill it or if I wanted him to do it, and I just started crying. I'd never made that connection before, I guess. It was stupid. Anyway, I cried so much dad put it in a pail of water and we went downstream to a little pool and he helped me put it back in, so I could watch it swim away and see that it was okay." 

"Is that why you don't eat fish? I assumed you just didn't like it." 

Thor colored. "Yeah, it is. Stupid, huh?" 

Loki's only answer was a velvet-soft kiss. One as gentle as Thor's heart. 

Still, it would be good for blackmail. 

***** 

Thor came home happy. Loki had had the game playing on mute on his computer, clicking over to it periodically to check how it was going and to see if there were any good close-ups of Thor's ass. When there weren't, he'd go back to working on his essay. He had two classes with Dr. Smythe this term, and the rumor of his upper-level classes being tough was no joke. He was a great teacher, though, giving the feeling that he did just as much work as he expected of his students. It certainly made his massive assignments easier to deal with. (As did all of that reading Loki had done when he was pretending to not be on campus; Loki reminded himself to send Steve some candy or something for that idea.) 

The team was doing really well this year, according to the internet. It was a much more reliable source than Thor, who after a win would show up happy, but not give much in the way of detail so as not to bore Loki, and the sports-crazed people on campus seemed to have little interest in the degree of success. Basically, when the team won, they burned couches in celebration; when they lost, they burned couches in despair. There was little nuance to their emotions. 

Loki had found himself once again using Tor, like when he'd wanted to watch porn before getting his own laptop. It wasn't that he didn't want Thor to know he cared; he just wanted to save it up for the end of the season, to surprise Thor at whatever festivities were sure to come. And Lake State was racking up win after win; the few losses they did suffer were close, usually went into overtime, and against much more highly-ranked teams. 

A new student group had gotten funding to show movies on the weekends. Nothing new - that would be too expensive - but older ones. It was in one of the huge lecture halls in the physics building, and as long as no one puked or otherwise made a mess, no one seemed to care that people tended to drink through the movies. It was a huge and instant success. Within a month, the group had to start a raffle for pairs of tickets. 

Loki got the email just before Thor got home Sunday morning, saying that he had two passes to see The Addams Family the next Friday, the night before a rare and exciting home game. "Look what I got," he said happily when Thor leaned down for a kiss. 

"Oh, cool. Is it good?" Thor asked. He didn't particularly care; the room full of tipsy-to-drunk students hollering cheerfully at the screen was enough to make any movie fun. 

Loki rolled his eyes. "I have it half memorized," he said. 

"That didn't actually answer my question," Thor pointed out, grinning. 

"Yes. It's good." 

Thor did like it. How could he not, sitting there with Loki on one side of him, murmuring along with his favorite lines and a flask of oaky rum rich with vanilla going back and forth between them, and a trio of highly amusing first year girls elbowing each other and giggling every time he glanced their way? 

Loki kept looking at Thor as they walked back to Mews. "What?" Thor finally asked him. 

"I was just thinking how we're a lot like them. Morticia and Gomez, I mean." 

Thor blinked. "We are?" He pictured them living in a huge stone house, random medieval stuff piled around. Loki would like that. Thor thought it sounded like an awful lot of dusting. 

"Mmm. They''ve been together a long time but they're still crazy about each other, and they like being together but they aren't attached at the hip." 

"Oh. Yeah, I can see that." 

Loki's face turned speculative. "How about for Halloween? You'd be so hot in a pinstripe suit." 

Thor's thoughts were rather more on how ridiculous he would look with a pencil mustache. Anyway, he had a better idea, one that didn't mean having to wear a wig. 

"If we go as Wednesday and Pugsley, it'll be way kinkier when we start making out in the middle of the party." 

Loki stopped dead in his tracks. "I love you so much," he said. 

***** 

They got Darcy to go shopping with them again. The entire hour drive was a non-stop comment about the scenery. _Oh my god, did you guys see that cow just now? It had horns like out to here. Hey, look at that bird-_ and so on. As energetic and flighty as she was, though, her talent - already clear their first year - was growing by leaps and bounds. She was spending this year making a portfolio of her costume designs, so that next year, when others were stressing over grad schools, she could start applying to film studios. No one doubted that they'd be seeing her name in movie credits in a few years. And even though he could only take her in small doses, Loki was legitimately fond of her. 

Loki hadn't been sure she'd have time to help them this year when he called her, but she proved excited to do it. "Aww, you guys are my friends, of course I'll help you! You're the very first people here to trust me do my thing on them, I don't forget stuff like that. Besides, I know what you two look like in your underwear, I'm not going to pass up a chance at that." Loki didn't share that last bit with Thor. 

They went to the same thrift store where they'd had luck before. There weren't any striped shirts for Pugley, but those could be found online easily enough. There _was_ a huge rack of khaki shorts, looking rather as though every boy scout had quit at once. "Okay, you. Find whatever fits," Darcy told Thor, and turned to work on Loki. 

It wasn't long before Loki's arms were filled with a pile of black dresses and Darcy was following him into the dressing room. The clerk, obviously looking uncomfortable, tried to stop them going into a room together. 

"Oh, don't worry, we're not going to have sex. I'm his costumer," Darcy explained. "His boyfriend's over there," she added, pointing down the row of doors. 

"Hi," Thor called, waving over the top. 

Loki tried on dress after dress until Darcy had her favorite picked out. "That one fits me like a potato sack," he complained. 

"The middle's easy to take in. I mostly need a good fit around the shoulders," she told him. She grabbed a white dress shirt with only a cursory examination and they got in line. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki faces his limits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Thor leaned back from his desk with a sigh. Loki looked up at him. "They think I'm a girl," he said, amused.

"Column?"

"Yeah, the paper just forwarded me this week's crop of letters. They all think I'm a girl."

Thor got up - and _fuck_ that felt good, he hadn't realized how long he'd been sitting still - and walked around to read over Loki's shoulder.

 

_Christ, I thought this was going to be a real column but you're just some [redacted] feminazi._

_-Real[ly Pathetic] Man_

 

_Hi Really,_

_If you think my suggestion that people not behave like creeps in bed makes me a feminazi, that says way more about you than it does about me. Though it does say that I'm a better lover._

 

"Mm, it does," Thor agreed, nuzzling his neck.

 

_I can tell right now you're going to get a bunch of shitty letters for last week's column from whiny insecure men, so I wanted to send a good one. Those guys were assholes and you only said what needed saying. Any chance you're single?_

_-Love Those Sassy Women_

 

"Are you going to tell them?" Thor asked.

Loki smiled at him and started typing.

 

_Hi LTSW,_

_Yes, you're right, they were assholes. Here, have a delicious not-all-men-cookie._ Loki thought a moment before he continued. _You know, you started out so well and I would actually have been nice to you, but you had to go and ruin it with a shitty hookup attempt. Don't do that. Just don't._

 

"I actually got a good one this week, too. Like a real one."

"You did? That's exciting."

"It is," Loki agreed. He clicked over to his email and pointed.

 

_How do you pick a vibrator? This is my first chance to get mail that my parents won't see and I'm kind of overwhelmed by the choices._

_-Shy Girl Wants Fun_

 

"Hey, look at that. Go you," Thor said.

Loki copied it into his work page and got ready to type.

Thor watched. "Well?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Loki admitted. "I know what _I_ think looks like fun, but... different parts."

"Natasha? She's sort of responsible for you having to do this, anyway."

Loki snorted at the _sort of_ and picked up his phone. Thor went back to his own work while Loki talked, slowly getting the hang of his plate-modeling program. He kept working after Loki returned to typing, and by the time he was finished, Loki was on the sofa, reading and idly kicking Thor's chair with one swinging foot.

"What did Natasha say?"

"Mmm, hang on a sec." Loki read a few more lines and stuck a marker in his book. "She said that since the writer is shy, she should get a waterproof one to take into the shower, so she doesn't have to worry about her roommate walking in, and one that takes batteries instead of rechargeable so it's not sitting out on her desk recharging. Something that can go inside but has texture for clit use in case it turns out she likes that better, and to read reviews to look for one that's quiet."

"Crap. That's a lot of things to think about."

Loki nodded.

"It seems a lot easier to have a dick."

"They get to have multiple orgasms, though."

"Yeah, that's true. It still seems like a lot more work to get the first one."

"It's not like they _need_ vibrators, though. Not all of them, anyway. Natasha went into a great deal of detail on that as well."

"What's a great deal?"

"Don't read the next issue if you want to be around her without blushing."

"I don't blush!" Thor said hotly.

"Oh, baby. It's so cute that you think that," Loki said, climbing into Thor's lap and kissing him until he forgot what they had been talking about.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor carries out a plan.

Thor got everything done just in time. He'd gotten those pics from Loki's phone and made a nice long slideshow, and rearranged Loki's desk enough to put his own computer on it, monitor facing the bed, and he'd finished undressing and got into bed about ninety seconds before he heard the key in the door. 

Loki looked quite pleased to find Thor naked in bed, sitting up and leaning against the wall. "I thought you were in lab," he said with a smile. 

"The reagent went bad, so we have to make it up after they get more in," Thor said. He patted the bed between his legs. "Come here." 

Thor watched as Loki undressed, his hands itching to grab for him. Autumn had gone from subtle hints into its full richness, and the west wind had left Loki's hair far messier than Thor would ever tell him, the shiny ringlets as bright as his eyes as he looked down at Thor. The bite in the air had pinched his cheeks into pinkness, and - yes, those cheeks had gone pink, as well. 

Loki got onto the bed on all fours and leaned forwards to kiss Thor, who tilted his face up to meet them. His mouth tasted like apples, and the chilly hand that came up to stroke his cheek, his throat, his chest was coaxing him to the hardness he hadn't had time to do himself. 

Thor reluctantly broke away from the kiss and reached for Loki's hips. "Turn around, baby," he said. 

Loki grinned at him and rose to his knees, turning around and tossing his hair for Thor's viewing pleasure. He looked back over his shoulder like a movie vamp. "Now what?" he asked, his voice teasing. 

"Hit the space bar on my computer, and then sit against me," Thor said. His voice had gone rough. 

Thor watched the smooth muscles shifting beneath his skin as he did as Thor had asked, and then even better than watching was feeling as Loki settled down between his legs and leaned back against his chest. "Like this?" Loki asked. 

"Mmm," Thor growled, wrapping his arms around him. "Watch." 

"What, it's bla- _oh,_ " Loki said. "My phone has a good camera." 

The slight shake in his words was blisteringly hot, and Thor reached down for Loki's cock. It was already growing thick and firm, and the first image on the screen and the feel of Thor's skin had it fully erect. Thor stroked him lazily, his own eyes on the computer monitor as he licked and nipped and nuzzled at Loki's neck. Loki's breath was shallow and rapid and Thor could feel the gentle expansion of his ribcage against his own chest. Thor glanced up to find Loki's eyes gone half-lidded, his piercing gaze fixed on the monitor. His hands were slick with precum by the time the picture showed the head of Loki's cock fully inside. 

What a perfect way to measure this. 

By the time the screen showed it in perhaps an inch, Loki was melting back against him. Thor's left hand explored upwards, swirling across his taut belly, up over the swell of his ribs, to toy and tease at his nipples. Despite his nudity, Loki's body had lost almost all of the autumn cold, only traces of it remaining in the tips of the fingers that grabbed helplessly at Thor's thighs. His head had fallen back on Thor's shoulder, and when Thor saw that his eyes had fallen shut, he gave a sharp nip to his earlobe. "Watch," he ordered. The heavy lashes fluttered open and a slash of green shone beneath. 

Two inches. Thor stroked a little faster - just a little, barely enough to realize, but oh, how Loki realized. The slick sounds of motion became graced by the breathiest moans, barely more than air, all the more exquisite for their delicacy. Loki's lips were parted and wet and his growing heat made the spices of his cologne flood Thor's senses. His nipples were pert and tight beneath Thor's fingers as he drew tiny circles over the blushing tips, as he pinched just hard enough to make Loki's breath catch. 

Three inches. Loki's hips started to move, the subtle undulations making his back rub against Thor's cock where it was pressed just above his ass. And that was what Thor had been waiting for. He slid his hand down from Loki's chest to press it against his abdomen, fingers spread. Holding him fixed in place. "Do not move," he said, his voice pitched low and rich in Loki's ear. "You are to be still and to watch the slides and _not move._ Do you understand?" 

The soft whimper that he got in return was electric, making him doubly aware of his cock, stiff and leaking against Loki's back, but it wasn't what he had asked for. 

"I _said,_ do you understand?" 

"Yes, Thor yes, oh fuck-" Loki gasped. 

"Good," Thor told him, holding him more tightly and his hand flying now, long sharp strokes that had Loki panting and mewling and struggling to thrust up into Thor's skilled fist. 

When Loki's orgasm hit he curled around, arching his back and twisting his neck so that he could demand greedy kisses, sobbing his pleasure into Thor's open mouth. Thor kissed him fiercely as he drank it down, allowing Loki to gasp the air from his lungs rather than break apart until it was over. He wanted it all, every drop, just as much as he wanted the cum that was spilling down his hand and tickling his wrist. Yes, he had wanted all of this too, but that didn't stop the next words out of his mouth. He knew how much Loki would like them. 

"I told you to stay still. Now we have to try again." 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween party!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Loki had two fitting sessions in Darcy's room, during which she again talked nonstop but with her mouth full of pins it was hard to make out what she was saying. The first time involved a lot of standing around in his underwear and trying desperately to remind himself that she was just doing her job. He also had to put the dress on inside out - which looked even worse than it did right side out, which he wouldn't have guessed was possible - and hold still with his arms raised awkwardly while she stuck pins into it all around his middle. The second fitting was to do the little bits of tidying up after the big adjustments. The hips needed to be taken in a little more, and she pinned the collar into place while he was wearing it, to make sure it was centered just right for his face.

And then it was Halloween. Darcy had found someone from the makeup crew who lived in their dorm, down on two, to agree to do their hair. Amy arrived early to their room, wanting plenty of time for her own costume. Thor's hair came first. She put it into a tidy bun, the closest it could get to Pugsley's own buzzcut without actually cutting it.

Loki's hair took longer, and Darcy showed up while Amy was still working on getting the perfect center part. "Thor, go get dressed in the bathroom and wait in the hall. I don't want you seeing Loki until he's done."

Thor grinned at Loki's panicked expression as he picked up his things. "Relax, baby. It's way less work than Morticia, right?"

That much, at least, was true. Any lingering hopes Loki might have had for his original idea died a quick death when he had mentioned it to Darcy and she began talking about fitting him for Spanx. Loki was willing to sacrifice quite a lot for his Halloween costumes but some things were just too far.

Once the pigtails were in properly, it really didn't take long at all to put Loki into his dress. It turned out to fit him beautifully, with the tailoring it had received. He went out to the lounge and watched Thor's reaction to the sight of him.

He liked it. Thor rose to his feet, lips gently parted. "You look great," he said.

"So do you," Loki said, smiling at him. "Now remember, once we get to the party you can't make me smile anymore. Wednesday doesn't smile."

"Sounds like a dare," Thor told him.

Darcy popped her head around the corner. "Whaddaya think?" she asked.

"He looks great," they said in unison.

Loki pinched Thor playfully. "I said no making me smile," he teased.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go get into my outfit. Which parties are you going to?"

"Wallace," Thor said.

She looked at Loki. "How much is he paying you?"

"I liked the last one I went to there," he said with a glance at Thor.

"I know what that look means. Are you going to make out? I'll bring my good camera if you are."

"Maybe," Thor said. His eyes were lit up and Loki decided it was definitely worth risking a second venture into the hell dorm. Anyway, he was dressed for it this time.

They went back to the room to grab their coats and headed down the stairs. "Did you thank Amy? I didn't see her when she left."

"Yes, I did. I wasn't raised in a barn, you know," Loki teased.

Thor scratched his balls, making Loki snort. "I was," he said cheerfully.

The party was already crowded when they got there, but their height made it easy for them to find their friends. By the time they got to the front of the drink line, Thor was chatting with Fandral and Loki was trying to convince Natasha that she owed him at least this round for doing her friend a favor.

"Where's Clint, anyway?" Loki asked.

She made a face. "He's in his room watching a movie. He's got a bad ear infection, and even without his hearing aids, the music is loud enough to hurt."

"That sucks. Poor guy."

"Yeah, I'm going to have a Halloween party when he gets better. Hang on to your costumes."

Whoever had picked the playlist had done a good job; there was a mix of classic Halloween tracks (Thriller seemed to crop up about every half hour) with what sounded like the complete collection of every person who had shown up in a Bauhaus t-shirt. By the time they were done with their fifth drink - shockingly red sangria, the only option tonight - the floor was shaking with the bass while Al Jourgensen sang about living with snakes and lizards, and Thor had Loki boxed in against the wall and they were kissing drunkenly. It was hungry and sweet and messy and while Loki didn't usually go for PDA, he had to admit that Thor was right, their costumes did make it kinky instead of annoying and he didn't even mind the way Thor's hand was starting to slide up his leg, under his dress-

A flash distracted them and they broke apart to look around. Tony was there with his camera. "I bet I can sell these on the internet," he said. "I'll say you're brothers and change extra."

"Tony, you're rolling in money," Loki pointed out. It wasn't just a metaphor, either; he'd seen it happen, more than once.

Tony shrugged. "Hey, I've got principles. Not many, but they're there. Selling photos of brothers making out happens to be one of them."

Thor glared at him, clearly impatient with the interruption. Loki eyed him more coolly. "Hand it over," he said.

"What?"

"You want any more show, you hand over the camera."

"No way, it's mine."

Loki stared.

Thor glared.

Tony shrugged.

Thor flexed.

"Fine," Tony said grudgingly. He held out the camera.

"Good." Loki flipped it to view mode and deleted everything before turning to Thor. "Now where were we?"

"Right about here, I think," Thor murmured, leaning forwards. His hand disappeared under the hem of Loki's dress, the cloth bunching over his wrist as he slid it upwards. His other hand came up to Loki's chest, cupping the faint swell of muscle and rubbing the slightly rough fabric against his nipple. He could feel it growing taut against his palm. Loki gave a soft _mmm_ that Thor felt more than he heard, and wrapped his arms around Thor's neck. Thor's fingers slid higher, higher, and then _there_ , and Loki was holding on to him tightly to hide how he had started shaking.

This time they didn't break apart when the flash went off. They parted just enough to turn their heads to find Darcy. "This is great stuff you guys, keep going," she said.

"How come she gets to?" Tony asked, indignant.

"Those aren't going on the internet, I don't think," Thor said.

"No way. These babies are all mine," she agreed, patting her camera. "Warming up my long lonely nights."

"Okay, I think that's my sharing limit for the decade," Thor said, blushing just like he said he didn't. "You?" he asked Loki.

Loki nodded. His eyes were blown black and his breath was rough. "Let's go to bed, brother."


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the author continues to dodge having to learn how football actually works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have time for one more update to this story before I go on vacation, but this might be it for a couple of weeks. I do have something special planned for September though, with everything all pre-written, so as long as I have wifi while travelling I plan on daily updates for that. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Parent's weekend coincided with a home game, so Loki got tickets for the three of them to watch Thor play. He'd picked up some about how it worked (way more than he'd realized, really) from the snippets he caught when he'd check online for the progress of the games, but it wasn't something he was about to let on to knowing. Anyway, it gave his dad and Frigga something to talk to him about besides how they thought he should get involved in an extracurricular activity since Thor was so busy with sports. There was no way in fucking hell he was going to tell them about his newspaper column. 

"Are we winning?" he'd ask periodically, and while Frigga cast him wry glances, she didn't interrupt when Odin would point to the scoreboard and explain yet again that the bigger number next to Lake State's name meant they were ahead. November's cold was in full blast, and the lure of the hot chocolate stand gave him another good excuse for breaks. It wasn't that Loki didn't like being with them; he did, very much, but the whole thing was just easier to handle when Thor was there too. Even worse was being out here with the stands full of half-drunk people yelling and doing the wave and climbing over him to get back to their seats with more beers, and the halftime show with the cheerleaders getting catcalled when all they wanted to do was have fun. 

At least the team won by a _lot_. That would make Thor happy, which was some comfort. Loki knew the team was having a good year, but he hadn't realized quite how good until they had to wait for Thor to make his way through the crowd of reporters before he could give his mom a kiss on the cheek and give Loki the smile that was just for him, the one that said _I'm so happy to see you_. 

"That was a fine game," Odin said, clapping his hand on Thor's shoulder. 

"Thank you," Thor said. "I'm starving, can we go eat?" 

There was one small problem with that plan. They were nearly the last people to leave the crowded stadium, and they drove from restaurant to restaurant looking for a place to eat that didn't have a line out the door. 

"I can take a hint when the universe is giving me one," Frigga said at last. "How does pizza delivery sound?" 

"I'm about ready to eat the car," Thor said. 

She turned the car back towards campus and they called to order when they were about ten minutes away. The wait was still over hour, with the restaurant so busy, and Thor had put away half a box of cereal, handful by handful, by the time it arrived. All that time spent crunching meant more time he wasn't talking. Which meant more time Loki was talking. He couldn't remember when he'd been so exhausted. 

Fortunately, their parents had had to leave Beuley really early to make sure they'd arrive in time for the game, and they left for their hotel as soon as the pizza was gone. 

"You have sauce on your chin, baby," Loki said, reaching for it with a napkin. 

Thor dodged him. "Uh-uh. Lick it," he said. 

"You want me to lick your chin clean?" Loki said, laughing. 

"It's good sauce. We shouldn't waste it." 

"You are so lucky you're sexy," Loki said, straddling Thor's legs and settling down on his lap. 

***** 

Loki had looked worn out just by the end of the game, and Frigga was quietly glad that they'd ended up eating back in the dorm. "Loki seemed really tired," she said when they were back in the car. 

"He did," Odin agreed. "But - he seemed happy, too, didn't he? Or do you think that maybe-" 

"No, I don't. He was happy. Is," she said. 

"Just school stress then, I suppose. And they must have worked like crazy to make their room look like they actually keep it that clean." 

She laughed. "They polished the microwave door, did you see? I shudder to think how bad it was, to make them do something like that." 

They never got an answer to that, but in the morning, they had an answer to why Loki had been acting the way he was. 

_We're having a slow morning,_ Thor texted Frigga. _The hot chocolate at the game was bad and we've been puking our guts out all night._

"Food poisoning," she said, putting her phone back in her purse. "That's why Loki was dragging yesterday, he was getting sick. Thor got it, too." 

"One bathroom, two pukers, and they didn't break up?" Odin said. 

"It's true love," she told him with a happy sigh. 

He reached for her hand. "Remember the train, that night outside Vienna?" 

"I'll never forget. It was the most disgusting night of my life. And we're still together, too." She rubbed her thumb gently over his. 

"You're right. True love," he said. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Very Important Game Indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally read a little bit about football. Not much, but I do aim for at least vague levels of accuracy. 
> 
> If this seems similar to Hermaline75's lovely Varifocals... you should see the draft I wrote before I read that and went "yipes, rewrite time!" (I would have just moved this smut to a later part of the story, but it's actually plot-oriented so it had to stay, with some changes.) 
> 
> Enjoy!

The last game of the regular season was an away game. Thor had no idea that Loki realized what a big deal it was. 

Loki knew perfectly well. "I'll walk with you partway to the gym. I have to go to the library," he offered, putting a couple of just-a-little overdue books in his backpack. The perfect cover story for why his phone would go straight to voicemail when Lake State won and Thor tried to call him. 

The trees had a few dull brown leaves still clinging to their branches. The piles of leaves they had jumped in yesterday were cleaned up now, and it was clear that despite the lack of snow, the richness of autumn had fallen away to the dullness of winter. It didn't matter much, though, not when there were warmly gloved hands to hold and the air cold enough to make laughter take frozen form before them. 

They stopped together in front of the library. "Last game of the season. Remember to have fun out there," Loki said. 

"I wouldn't play if I didn't," Thor told him. 

"Good. You know that's all I care about, right?" 

Thor smiled. "I know." 

***** 

Loki actually did do some work at the library, though it was with one eye on the time, making sure he could get back to the dorm before the game started. He put his phone on airplane mode so he could listen to music and use the clock without interruption. 

And then it was time to go back and watch. It was getting rapidly colder outside, and he walked quickly, tucking his hands into his opposite sleeves as the wind went right through the knit of his gloves. There was just time to make himself a cup of tea to warm his fingers before turning his computer to face the sofa and getting comfortable. 

***** 

Thor couldn't remember when he - when all of them - had played so hard. But there was so much riding on this game, not only the last of the season for Lake State but nearly one of the last for college football for the year. The last few games were among lower-ranked teams, so this was the one that mattered. 

Winning this one meant being the number two team in the league. _Everyone_ (except Loki) knew what that meant. 

Pasadena. 

The Rose Bowl. 

There were three seconds left on the clock and they were ahead by two points. Just enough that if Halyard got control of the ball they could force the game into overtime. He knew the fans were looking forward to something spectacular for the last few seconds of the game, but he'd seen the exhaustion on the faces of his team, and the limp that Hogun was trying his best to hide. 

The fans would just have to deal with it, he decided. His job was to do what was right for the team, not the people in the stands. The ball was snapped into Thor's hands and he fell to his knees, kneeling out the clock. 

***** 

Loki allowed himself ten full minutes of after-game commentary (mostly because there were so many slow-motion repeats of plays with good views of Thor's ass) (ok, entirely because of that) before grabbing his keys and heading out to do his shopping. 

He didn't have the sort of luck getting people to buy for him that Thor always had, so they'd have to have fizzy grape juice instead of champagne, but that was okay. He hesitated over the rose-scented candle; in principle, it seemed like a good idea, but he wasn't entirely sure he'd want their room smelling that flowery. The aisle emptied as he stood debating with himself, so he tore a discreet hole in one edge of the wrapping. It smelled far more of chemicals than it did of anything else, and he put it back on the shelf behind an unopened one. 

It was a good thing he'd called the florist to buy the roses before the game started; the only ones left were his, with a large _SOLD_ note on them in the sort of handwriting that said she'd gotten tired of explaining. Even the pink roses had sold out. Even the orange ones. 

Loki's were red. 

"I'm almost out of the scented candles, even," she said as she gestured at one of the wooden shelves opposite the coolers. He grabbed the last one and she smiled tiredly. "And with that, I'm closing early. Nothing else is going to sell, not today." 

***** 

Thor had wanted to call when he got out of the shower, but the reporters were being really pushy - they weren't allowed into the locker rooms with college teams, at least, something about _possible underage players_ \- but they stood outside shouting through the windows until the team came out to do interviews. 

He called when they got on the bus, half an hour after they had planned to leave, but Loki's phone went to voicemail. It was impossible not to feel a little crestfallen, even though he knew Loki had gone to the library. 

He called when they were halfway home, stopping at a truck stop for the players to grab nachos and donuts. 

He called as they reached the edge of town. 

He realized, later, that the failed calls were the only reason he didn't realize what the smell in the hallway outside his door meant. A flower smell, a girl must have spritzed on some perfume just before she went to the stairs. Nothing to think about, that happened a lot. 

And then he opened the door to their room and slammed it shut very quickly behind himself as he took in what was before him. The lights were low and the air was rich with a spicy rose-clove scent, and the whole floor was sprinkled with red rose petals and the bed had a _layer_ of them and Loki was sprawled naked atop them, his skin glowing in the light of a candle on his desk and Thor's heart instantly matched it. 

"You heard," he said softly. 

"I watched," Loki answered. "Though I did buy the roses before the game started, I knew they'd sell out when you won." 

"You didn't know we'd win," Thor said with a fond shake of his head. 

Loki rattled off a long string of statistics. "See? I knew you'd win." He reached for Thor. "But enough of that. Come on, get in bed with me. I expected you an hour ago." 

Thor sighed as he kicked off his shoes and began to undress. "The reporters took forever, and then traffic sucked... I think I'm more tired from everything after the game than I am from the game itself." He sighed again as he sank down next to Loki. The flower petals felt cool against his skin. 

"Then you relax, and let me take care of everything," Loki murmured, rising up to hover above him. 

Thor tilted his head up to kiss him. "No arguments here," he said. 

"You're coming home a hero. You deserve a little something." 

" _Hero,_ " Thor echoed teasingly. "I know you still don't care about football. It's okay." 

"I care about it making you happy, I told you before. But right now I'd really rather make you happy with something else, if you don't mind too terribly?" Loki said, mimicking Thor's tone. 

"I'll manage someh _ah!_ " Thor answered, breaking off sharply as Loki's hand wrapped around his cock. 

Loki leaned down to purr into his ear. "I'm so glad to hear it." Velvet voice gave way to velvet tongue, lapping gently at his lobe and then nipping it before soothing the bite with more careful tonguing, and always his hand still working, coaxing Thor to hardness beneath him. 

Thor rolled his head to the side as Loki kissed his way down his neck, sucking lightly at the pulse that throbbed beneath his lips. He reached down to wrap his hand around Loki's cock, smiling at how it made Loki's even pace stutter. Loki came first - he had been hard and ready when Thor arrived - and the feel of his come spattering hot on Thor's skin was glorious. "Loki, baby, that's right, come for me," Thor urged as Loki thrust helplessly into his grasp. He rested on one elbow, head hanging, as he panted his way through it. He had only half caught his breath when he gave a lazy smile and continued. 

When Thor came, it was short, but so strong it made him almost dizzy. His vision gave way to falling stars, and all he knew was shimmering and pleasure and Loki hissing _yessss_ in his ear as he drove himself upwards into the feel of Loki's delicate fingers wrapped around him. Loki worked him through it before collapsing next to him. 

"I think I like being a hero," Thor said when he could talk. 

"My hero," Loki answered breathily, batting his lashes. 

Thor snorted. "Dork." 

Loki fluttered harder. "Your dork." 

Thor laughed and blew out the candle. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's life without a little mischief?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Thor was sitting at his computer, working on one of his take-home finals when yet another email notification popped up. He ignored it; he'd been getting almost non-stop messages from journalists since the game. It was bad enough he'd turned off the chime on his phone, because it was driving him nuts. 

Loki's phone dinged perhaps a second later. He pulled it from his pocket and rested his book on his chest to read the message. "Hey, you actually want to read this one," he said, sounding pleased. 

Thor clicked over to find that it was a note from Steve. _As long as you're on the coast for the big game, you should come up for a visit! It'd be great to see you both, and you can extend your escape from winter weather for a while._ "That sounds like fun. What do you think?" he asked. 

Loki nodded. "I'd like to. You wanna write him back?" 

"Sure." _Hi Steve, it's great to hear from you. Loki and I would love to see you,_ he wrote. 

_Great, we'll consider our hide-a-bed reserved. There's a historic train you should take to come,_ Steve told him. 

***** 

Since the players would be travelling from all over to get to Pasadena for the game and there wasn't one big block of tickets like the few previous times they'd had to fly to games, it was easy enough for Thor to convince the admin assistant to make his return flight from a different city. Their parents hadn't bought flights, yet, either. 

"Maybe Odin and I will stay and enjoy the roses for a few days, just the two of us," Frigga said. Loki tried very hard not to think about how he and Thor had recently 'enjoyed' some roses, until he looked at Thor's face and saw that he was doing the same thing. Loki smirked and made the universal hand signal for fucking. Thor threw a pillow at him. 

By Sunday, their flights were booked, and they had tickets for the train that Steve suggested. Their last assignments were due Monday at midnight, which meant that Thor had his in by three that afternoon and Loki had his in at ten til midnight. (It would have been midnight on the dot, but Thor was hovering, naked and impatient, and Loki decided that maybe he didn't need to do that one last check.) 

They gave themselves a lazy Tuesday morning, hitting the road a little before noon and eating at a diner part way home. Thor was stopped twice for autographs before they even got inside. "I just want my lunch," Thor whispered to Loki as they stamped the snow off their shoes on the cheerful red mat inside the door. 

"Imagine what it's going to be like when you win," Loki said with an innocent smile. 

At least once they were seated people left them alone, and it wasn't too long a wait before they had their drinks (coffee for Loki, a chocolate milkshake for Thor. _It's winter,_ Loki pointed out when Thor ordered it; _I'm supposed to have forty-six hundred calories a day until the game,_ Thor answered. _I've got more calories for you right here, baby,_ Loki told him, nodding towards his lap). 

Loki's back was to the wall, and there was no one in the booth behind Thor, so when their food came they took turns throwing their tater tots into each other's mouths. Thor's all landed perfectly. Loki's tosses went increasingly astray, both of them laughing as Thor made ever more spectacular saves, missing only one that would have been impossible unless he had an extendable neck. 

"I've never been to a restaurant that served these before," Loki said. "It's kind of like being back in middle school." 

Thor shrugged. "For you, maybe. Nobody in my middle school was as hot as you. In fact, if we were alone right now, I'd like to take all your clothes off and spend an hour licking every inch of you right here on this table." 

"Could I have some more coffee when you have a minute?" Loki asked their furiously blushing server, who had arrived just in time to hear everything. 

Thor's face flushed to match that of the rapidly disappearing woman. "What's gotten into you lately? You could have stopped me saying that," he asked. 

"Or maybe what hasn't gotten into me? Like your cock, it's been eight days. Sorry, could I have some more cream, too, please?" 

Thor sank down in his seat with a groan as the server spun on her heel. "It's been two days, and I'm pretty sure you remember that," he pointed out. 

"Then maybe I'm just having fun. You like it when I have fun," Loki said. His stocking foot slipped between Thor's legs and started rubbing his cock. 

Thor swallowed hard. "You're right. I do," he said. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I started it days ago but computer issues are making me write on my phone and that takes me forever. Anyway, enjoy a nice little family Christmas!

Christmas was low-key, since they had to fly halfway across the country the next morning. They had decided to stay in Beuley, not wanting to risk icy roads when what felt like half the country was counting on Thor's prompt arrival in LA. He was expected at training at a loaner field bright and early on the twenty-seventh, and the others were going along at the same time to get their share of sunshine. 

There weren't many presents this year, either. Not physical ones, anyway. The school sprang for the players to fly to LA... economy. Frigga and Odin sprang for an upgrade for Thor and seats for the rest of the family to fly in business class with him, and for their flights home separate from the rest of the team. The players had been put up in a decent hotel, but they were sharing rooms, so Odin also got a room for Thor and Loki. Hogun, Thor's usual roommate for away games, had no complaints. Fandral tried to bribe him into trading, but Hogun refused. Volstagg was a considerate roommate, as roommates went, but everyone knew he snored. Thor and Loki, in turn, had spent most of their gift budget on the train tickets to visit Steve and Bucky. 

"I feel like we're getting everything we want, and our parents are just kind of stuck tagging along," Thor sighed as they settled into bed. 

"They _are_ getting away from winter for a while. Don't underestimate that. And they're staying in California almost a week after we leave. They're going to have fun," Loki pointed out. 

"Yeah, but it's still like they're making the best of things instead of getting what they really want." 

Loki hit Thor with a pillow. "They're also going to watch you play in the most important game in all of college football, you know. They're proud of you. They both are." 

Thor had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'd still like to do something nice for them." 

"You've learned a lot of cooking from your mom," Loki suggested. Thor could cook them a nice dinner one night, they'd like that. 

"You're right," Thor said, cheering up. "We could make breakfast and Christmas dinner. They always do those, we could give them the holiday off." 

Loki's narrowing eyes slid towards Thor. "We?" 

"Come on, it'll be fun. I'll help you with breakfast, and you can help me with dinner, and they can watch tv and we can make out." 

" _Fine._ I'll do it. But only for the making out part." 

"I thought that might do the trick," Thor said, grinning. 

For the second - but not last - time that night, Loki hit him with a pillow. 

***** 

Loki made a German apple pancake for breakfast. It didn't take too much time, and even less counter space, which Thor needed because he was up even earlier than Loki to start cooking. Last night, everyone had agreed on being in the kitchen at nine, ready to eat. Their parents didn't show. The big skillet came out of the oven at ten after, still sizzling and filling the room with mouthwatering steam. Even the smell - which had both of them staring longingly at the pan - didn't result in any more arrivals. 

At nine-fifteen, when the pancake had gotten just cool enough to eat, Thor asked, "should one of us go knock?" 

"You can. I'm not," Loki said. 

"Oh," Thor said, looking crestfallen. 

"Did you really think I might?" 

"Well, I'm doing all this cooking." 

"Yeah, and whatever they're doing, I'm not about to interrupt." 

Thor's eyes went wide. "I didn't think about that. I just thought they forgot to set an alarm." 

"Maybe. Don't know, don't want to know." 

"You're right. Should we eat while it's still warm?" 

"Yeah. They can microwave it." 

Caramel-apple kisses were too good to resist, and it took them a long time to get through with breakfast. Even so, their parents got to the kitchen after they were done eating. Loki was in the middle of loading the dishwasher and Thor was chopping vegetables, both with their backs to the door, when they heard Odin clear his throat. "That smells excellent," he said. 

"It was," Loki said pointedly. 

Frigga answered. "We're sorry. We took a little longer than expected with-" 

"exchanging gifts," Odin interrupted. 

"Yes, that," Frigga agreed, but her eyes were twinkling and she had to press her lips together very tightly like it was hard not to laugh. 

Thor sighed. "I believe there were promises about _never speaking of this again,_ " he reminded her. "Why don't you two go eat in front of the tv while Loki and I work?" 

"Okay, sweetie," Frigga said, pinching his cheek. She poured their coffees while Odin fixed them plates. Loki leaned against the counter with his arms crossed, staring at the ceiling. Thor rummaged needlessly through the fridge. "We'll just go eat in the family room now. We'll be sure to make lots of noise before we come back to the kitchen," she said. 

"Mom!" 

"Okay, sweetie." 

Once they were gone, Loki rounded on Thor, smirking. "Told you so," he said. 

"Shut up, Loki." 

"But I did say that-" 

"Shut _up_ , Loki!" 

Loki grinned. "Make me." 

***** 

Thor wasn't as good at timing things as Frigga was, but for his first time cooking a holiday meal, he did impressively well. The rolls weren't quite as steaming-hot when they were torn open as he had hoped, but they were still warm enough to melt the sweet butter as it was spread on them, and they tasted somehow both rich and light, which mattered far more. There was sweet potato gnocchi with fried sage leaves and a pork roast stuffed with dried fruit soaked in brandy. The texture of the dressing was a little off, but the gravy more than made up for it, and the buche de noel was so good that despite being stuffed, everyone had seconds. 

Odin and Frigga had (very small) thirds, and the fact that neither Loki nor Thor joined them got a raised eyebrow from Frigga but no comment. That was good, because neither felt like explaining quite how much of the rich ganache they had licked off each other while it was being assembled. Thor had said it was a delicate process and Loki really hadn't meant to be an interruption, but he could hardly be blamed if Thor looked so delicious covered in chocolate. And they had technically remained dressed at all times, even if their shirts got shoved around some and they had to go change and lie and say the hot oven had made them sweaty. 

Everyone had agreed that they wanted some kind of gift exchange, though it wouldn't be much. They settled on a dollar-store swap. After dinner everyone retreated to gather what they'd hidden, and met in the family room to drink mulled cider and pass around their presents. 

Thor got Loki a glow-in-the-dark toy snake that tripled in size when it was put in water. "What do I do with this?" Loki asked, laughing. 

Thor shrugged. "I don't know. It was the most ridiculous thing I could find in the store." 

Loki gave Thor a pair of foam nunchuks. "Eminently more practical," Thor said when he opened it. 

"I know. _I_ wanted to give something useful," Loki said, his tone lofty. 

Frigga saw the look on Thor's face. "Uh-uh. Outside." 

"But mom, they're just foam." 

"They'll still knock things over." 

And that was how, once the rest of the presents were done (their parents gave them a coloring book and box of crayons, pointing out that neither was good at sitting still for as long as their flight would be, and them giving their parents a box of brownie mix and a tiara), they found themselves running through the purpling snow beneath a violet sky, Loki hissing and throwing his rubber snake at Thor and Thor trying to hit him with a pair of nunchuks. 

Finally they fell into a snowbank, kissing and rubbing lazily against each other. "Mmm," Thor rumbled happily. "I got the super-grow snake because it reminded me of you." 

"Inside. Bed," Loki said. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor is crazy about bunnies and no one can tell me otherwise because [look.](http://38.media.tumblr.com/754aac31b53dfb45604594ef04567e0c/tumblr_nt04uu2VhC1ubjo97o1_500.gif)
> 
> Thanks to Arcadii for suggesting Loki's silly pills, I hope I got it right!
> 
> Enjoy!

"So, um, I'm not a very good flier," Loki said.

"I'll hold your hand," Thor said.

"That'll be great," Loki told him. "You know what else will be great? These lovely little pills I have."

Thor looked at the bottle. "I didn't know you took these," he said.

"Because I usually don't. But trust me, you don't want me flying next to you without them."

"Okay," Thor said.

And that was that. It was always hard, admitting to his own problems, and even harder to admit to them to Thor. He just wanted Thor to think he was perfect and he also wanted Thor to accept him and love him flaws and all, and deep down he was pretty sure that somehow, Thor managed to do both. And then the pills kicked in shortly before the plane took off, and instead of thinking about that, he found himself thinking how fun it would be to get Thor into a tickle fight.

Thor knew that look on Loki's face. He didn't necessarily know what it signified, but he had a pretty good feeling that he needed to pin Loki's hands until he could be distracted. Unfortunately, their plane was cruising at the same altitude as a heavy cloudbank, so there was nothing to see out the window but a wall of hazy gray. Loki wiggled and giggled and Thor was desperately trying to hold him still when he overheard his mom say something. He gasped. " **Bunnies?** " he said, letting go of Loki and whirling around in his seat to look back at her. "Did you say there's a bunny museum?"

"Bunnies?" Loki said. "What about bunnies?"

"There's a bunny museum in Pasadena," Frigga said. "It's by appointment only. I take it you want to see if we can get in the day after your game?"

"Yes, please," Thor said. He turned to Loki. "You think the bunny museum sounds fun, babe?"

"Yes," Loki said. "I also think it sounds fun to f-"

Thor clapped his hand over Loki's mouth. "Later, okay?" he whispered.

"Mile high club, Thor. Come on, it'll be fun."

"I barely fit into the bathroom by myself," Thor told him quietly. "Just wait until tonight and then I'll make you feel a mile high."

Loki looked at him. "I don't see why it's an either-or proposition."

"Because we won't fit."

"Lemme up."

"Loki, we can't-"

"I just want to see how _I_ fit."

Thor sighed. "Fine."

The moment he stood up, Loki started tickling him.

 

By the time they collected their luggage and found their shuttle, it was nearly six; LA traffic was every bit as bad as they had always heard, and their thirty-mile ride took nearly two hours. They dumped their bags in their rooms and walked to the historic district of Pasadena, a couple blocks from their hotel, to look for a restaurant. Everyone was ravenous, and while a German restaurant seemed a little incongruous, considering their surroundings, it also seemed very filling. _Filling_ won.

"What kind of shitty German restaurant doesn't have currywurst?" Loki asked, far too loudly. His pills hadn't quite worn off. The bartender glared, and Thor hurriedly pointed out the potato pancakes.

Their server came over and was halfway through introducing himself when he recognized Thor. "Hey, you're one of the players from Lake State, right?"

"Yeah, hi," Thor said. It was still weird enough getting recognized back home; he really hadn't expected this, though looking around at all the tv's with football games silently playing, he guessed it made sense.

"Good luck out there, man. You folks' visit is on the house," he said.

"You don't want the California team to win?" Thor asked, confused.

"The _USC_ team, and no, we don't. You can like USC, or UCLA, but not both. We're all UC people here, so we're totally behind you."

"Oh... okay. Thank you," Thor said.

"He really wants a currywurst," Loki said.

The waiter laughed. "I think we can work something out."

*****

The next few days passed in a pleasant blur for Loki and their parents, wandering museums, the Huntington Library, the Huntington Gardens, simply enjoying the fact that it was warm and blue instead of cold and gray. It was just as much a blur for Thor, but nowhere near so pleasant. It was impossible to forget the fact that over twenty eight million people would be watching him play, twenty eight million people watching for the slightest mistake. Never had it felt less like _play_. Never had it felt less like a _game_. He wasn't planning to go pro, but some of his teammates... that was their dream, the thing they lived for. The results of this single game would have a huge impact on what teams would bid for them and what kind of offers they would get. All those people's fates, and so much of the game in the hands of the quarterback. His hands. It was scary.

And each day, after the hours on the training field and hours more spent listening to coach go over plays, he would get back to the hotel room and be told by the one who mattered most, _all I care about is that you have fun out there._ It wasn't going to be fun, there was no way it would be fun, but hearing that... it helped.

Five days of that. The twenty-seventh came and went. Twenty-eighth. Twenty-ninth, thirtieth. They went to bed early on the thirty-first, foam plugs in their ears to stop the noise of people celebrating the New Year. And then he woke, and there was no more _more_. Just the day.

Loki woke to find himself alone in bed. He rolled over and saw Thor silhouetted against the window. Rising silently, he tiptoed across the room to wrap his arms around Thor's shoulders. Thor leaned back against him with a sigh.

"Nervous?" Loki asked.

"Resigned," Thor answered.

"How should I comfort you if you lose?"

"Be rough," Thor told him, still staring out the window.

"And how shall I congratulate you when you win?"

That made Thor turn to give him a lazy smile over his shoulder. "Rougher."

Loki leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I am going to make you _so_ happy you said that."

Thor chuckled. "I know."

"But come on, come back to bed for now. There's almost two more hours before the alarm. You should sleep some more."

"There's no way I'm going back to sleep."

"Then we'll snuggle. Rest is good even if you don't sleep," said Loki.

Thor let himself be tugged back to bed, the curtains falling shut over the dim glow of the sunrise. Loki nestled in behind him, tucking his knees behind Thor's and draping his arm over his waist. Thor could feel his warm breath gently stirring his hair, and he remembered. _All I care about is that you have fun out there._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how this chapter got so sappy. Fear not, there's some rough sex on the way to balance it out.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, I wrote a chapter. Enjoy!

They said goodbye in their room. Loki kissed him and gave him that dazzling smile and told him, "Have fun out there," and then he was by himself on the elevator headed down.

One of the conference rooms in the hotel had been reserved for the players to gather before going to the stadium. The journalists hovered around the elevators, camera flashing each time the doors opened, but coach had his staff lining the hallway so that the players could walk past with the minimum of fuss.

It was still more fuss than any of them wanted to think about.

Leaving for the bus was even worse, but at least once they were on it, there wouldn't be any more shouted questions or blinding flashes until after it was all over.

They were shown to their locker room and then it was time to do a final run-through of coach's charts and then they were warming up and then they were getting into their uniforms and then the door opened and the noise from the stands poured in and nobody threw up which was really good because it was time to run out that door and take the field.

 

The truth was, the team didn't need to throw up. Loki had done enough of that for everyone, right after Thor had gone downstairs. For days he had been soaking up every bit of the nerves that had come pouring off Thor in waves and he had squashed it all down and met it with a reassuring smile and a gentle hand, and now that he could finally stop pretending, it all came spattering into the toilet until there was nothing left but dry heaves.

He brushed his teeth and pinched some color into his over-white cheeks. Frigga would be worried enough about Thor without worrying about him, too.

The walk to the stadium, the wait through the concession line where he wanted nothing, but a sprite was shoved into his hand anyway ("I know it doesn't feel hot, but we'll be sitting in the sun"), the stairs down to the family section of the stands... all of it was a blur. It felt seriously weird to care so much about something that he didn't really care about. But then the game started and Thor was as good as ever.

 

It was probably fifteen minutes into the game when Thor felt it. The other team was good - he wasn't sure he'd ever played so hard before - but Lake State was just _on._

They had twenty minutes to shower before the press conference and then they were all lined up in a row, coach in the middle and microphones in front of each of them, cameras filming and flashing, and person after person standing up and naming themselves and where they worked and asking their questions to coach and the various players. Thor got a question about his plans - "more school," he said, to a mixed chorus of cheers and sighs - and someone asked about a particular play. For his third question, he was asked how it had felt.

 

At the end of the game it was announced that the press conferences would be shown on the huge screens in the stadium. The three of them stayed to watch, since the walk to the hotel was too far to make it in time. Loki knew all that stupid anxiety should have left him once Lake State won but it didn't; it always took a while to shake it off even when the cause was completely over. He knew he should have taken one of his flying pills but he hadn't, and his stupid stomach was still all knotted up like a stupid stupidhead, and when he was asked if he wanted anything from the snack bar, he said no. Another stupid sprite got shoved in his hand when they got back.

The questions started, and they watched as people answered - Thor first, due to his position, then something to Tyrell, then Hogun, and on down the line, and it was pretty much all stuff he either already knew or didn't care about, and then Thor got another question.

"I had fun out there," Thor said.

*****

It took three more hours before the team got back to the hotel. Loki was stretched out in bed, reading. He looked up when he heard the door. "See? Look how well things turn out when you just do exactly what I tell you," he said, setting aside his book.

Thor laughed until Loki silenced him with his lips. His arms twined around Thor's shoulders and Thor's went about his waist as it deepened, lips parting gently to grab and nibble.

Loki slid his fingers up into Thor's hair. It was so blissfully soft and falling about his face in glorious waves. Loki almost hated to mess it up. Almost. He tightened his hands into fists and pulled Thor's head back. He was wearing the gray v-neck - on purpose, Loki knew it - and it stretched - oh, deliciously tight - as Loki forced him to arch back. His neck was exposed and Loki licked a long stripe, right up the side. He was just sinking his teeth in when a firm hand clamped around his wrist and squeezed until he let go, but instead of letting his wrist free, Thor grabbed the other one and forced his hands over his head.

Thor whirled them around, shoving Loki hard enough against the wall that the air was knocked out of him. Loki grinned and thrust himself forwards, claiming Thor's lips in a bruising kiss. There was a struggle as Thor tried to catch both of Loki's hands with one of his own, while Loki tried to get them both away. Thor won. His free hand pulled at Loki's shirt, growling, "get this off, now, off," and Loki laughed and bit his shoulder.

"Fine," Thor told him, and picked him up and _threw_ him across the room onto the bed. Loki had felt those muscles beneath his hands, had seen how they rippled and bulged, but to feel that raw display of power... it was terribly tempting to undress himself as he'd been told, but that was hardly the _rougher_ that Thor had requested.

Loki sprang up, getting to his feet as Thor stalked to the bed. They fell back onto the bed together, rolling and wrestling and pulling frantically at one another's clothes. Thor was clearly holding back now, using just enough of his strength to keep things even. They got all turned around as they fought, arms and legs flying everywhere, and while Thor had a good excuse for bruises, Loki was clearly going to be wearing long sleeves tomorrow.

It happened in a blur – there was no way Loki could repeat it, not that he’d ever admit it – Thor was abruptly pinned on his stomach with Loki’s knee digging into the hollow of his back, and one arm bent up towards his shoulder blades. “Okay. Now on the count of three, I’m going to move my knee and you’ll shove down your sweatpants. If you try anything else, you’ll be sorry. Got it?”

Of course Thor nodded, and of course the moment Loki hit _three_ , Thor tried something else. It would up with Loki on the floor, Thor’s elbow feeling distinctly different than it had just seconds before, and both of them laughing hysterically.

“I think I hurt my arm,” Thor said, still laughing.

“How badly?” Loki asked, his face sobering.

“It’ll be fine in the morning.”

Loki rose to his feet, grinning maniacally. “Then get your fucking pants off, like I told you.”

“Make me.”

Loki belly-flopped across Thor's middle, the sharp slap making their skin sting, but it was a fairly effective position for getting Thor at least somewhat pinned while Loki tugged at his sweats. Rather than trying to push Loki off of himself, Thor left him there and wiggled his hands down to open and shove and Loki's jeans. He had them halfway down Loki's hips when Loki jerked free of his grasp and caught Thor's cock in his mouth, sliding down as far as he could go.

There was nothing quite like having his cock between someone's teeth to make Thor do pretty much exactly what they wanted. In this case, it was Loki's hand pushing lightly on his hip, telling him to move towards the center of the bed. He went slowly and evenly, and Loki never let go, suckling and licking at the head of his cock the whole time he was moving. Loki signalled his satisfaction with their placement by lowering his mouth back down, a little deeper this time, bobbing his head and taking a little more with each heady slide downwards.

Thor usually tried to hold still, or as still as he could, while Loki had him like this, so close to taking his whole cock. He was swallowing instead of sucking now, he really was taking that much and making his throat tighten up with each dizzying pull. Oh yes, Thor usually tried to hold still, but it felt _so_ fucking good right now, and Loki did seem happy when Thor had said _rougher_. So the next time Loki slid down, so close to taking the whole thing, Thor thrust up. He didn’t do it hard - he was having fun, and he wanted to keep it fun - but it didn't need to be hard because then his cock was completely wrapped in slick heat and Loki's lips were lost in a haze of blond curls and he groaned. "I'm close, baby," he warned. Loki moaned in answer as he backed off to breathe. His eyes shone as they met Thor's. He gave him a wink and dove back down.

He came on the third thrust, his fingers tightening into the soft skin of Loki's forearms and head thrashing and all the time begging him, _don't stop, please, don't stop,_ until he collapsed back with an exhausted sigh.

Thor's eyes were closed and he looked as floppy as a rag doll and utterly satisfied. He also looked dangerously ready to fall asleep. Loki crawled up his body until he was straddling Thor's chest. Oh, he looked so relaxed, every muscle limp. That should make this easy. "Open up, baby, we're not done yet," he said, pulling gently at Thor's lip.

The moment Thor's mouth opened with a lazy smile, Loki slid his cock inside. He'd do it gently now, and ask to fuck Thor's face another time; he looked so sweet like this, all lazy and sated. At least, that was the plan. But the head was barely in Thor's mouth before Thor's eyes were lighting up wickedly and his hands tightened on Loki's hips.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbyes and hellos.
> 
> Also, bunnies!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, I can't believe I haven't updated in almost a week. I've actually been writing like crazy and getting nervous about finishing as Halloween is approaching rapidly. :D
> 
> Enjoy!

Frigga did manage to get tickets to the bunny museum for the day after the game. 

"It's in somebody's house?" Loki said dubiously as they pulled up. 

"That's so cool," Thor said. He had ordered a crudite plate last night and crammed it into a baggie, and he was half bouncing in his seat at the thought of feeding the rabbits who lived there. They went inside and there was rabbit stuff _everywhere_. Nearly all the walls were lined with shelves, each of them packed solid with rabbits - plush rabbits, china rabbits, knit rabbits, terrifying 70's plastic rabbits... the few walls without shelves were covered with pictures and paintings, some of which were that weird rubbery stuff that changes the picture based on the angle of viewing. Lenticular prints. Those things had freaked Loki out as a kid, and he'd torn them off all his books, and now here they were. 

"This is so creepy," he hissed to Thor. 

"What? Look at all the bunnies!" Thor whispered. 

Frigga was talking with the woman who was showing them around, pointing out the double of a toy Thor had had as a baby until he started teething and chewed its ears off. 

Odin stood about awkwardly. 

When there was a pause in the conversation, Thor spoke up. "Ma'am, the website said it was okay to feed the bunnies? I brought some vegetables," he said, holding up his bag. 

"Of course! I have a list over here of the foods that are safe for them to eat," she said, leading them into the kitchen. It wasn't as packed as the other room, but it did of course have rabbit wallpaper. More importantly, there were three rabbits. 

"Why are they staring at us like that?" Loki asked, hovering in the doorway. 

"They're bunnies," Thor explained. 

"Oh," Loki said. 

"Here, give one of them a green bean." 

He took it and knelt down, holding it out in offering. One of the bunnies - a huge, floppy-eared brown one with wide bright eyes - hopped cautiously forwards and, after an inquisitive sniff, began to nibble on it. 

Loki smiled up at Thor. "I think it likes me," he said. 

***** 

It was an early night that night, since they had to leave the hotel at five the next morning to be sure of making their train. It had seemed like a good idea, back when they weren't faced with the imminent prospect of getting up at four am. But they did it. 

No one talked much in the car. Odin had some music on to keep him awake while the others half-dozed the whole way there. (He'd tried to get Frigga to drive, since he'd done the hellish leg from the airport to the hotel, but she'd refused. "I'm too old for that shit," she'd said. "I'm two years older than you," he pointed out. "I'm too old for that shit," she repeated.) 

Traffic wasn't quite so bad, what with it being a Sunday morning, and they got there early enough to get breakfast together at the café inside the station. The station itself was really pretty, with an inlaid marble floor and the ceiling covered in decorative beams and fancy painting. 

Their parents waited with them until it was time to board, and everyone hugged everyone and then they got on the train and were whisked away. 

Frigga and Odin looked at each other, grinning. "You ready?" he asked. 

"Been ready for days," she said. 

***** 

The train ride was every bit as cool as Steve had promised. It rang right along the coast for hours, periodically cutting inland through the shaggy-barked redwoods before returning to the seaside. They were in the upper level of their car, with a perfect view of the scenery. There was an attendant assigned to it to answer questions and keep people happy, and she would point out things of interest as they went by. At one point they stopped and sat for about ten minutes in the middle of the forest because they were on tracks that had been laid during the Gold Rush, and the switches still had to be changed by hand. 

"Can we get out and watch?" Thor asked her. 

"I'm sorry. If we let people off, it would take forever to get them all back on, and then we'd have to do head counts before we could move again, and it would just be a nightmare. This train always runs late, anyway." 

"You could skip the head counts," Loki said, glaring at the man snoring in the seat ahead of them. 

They had booked late, and only the first round seating in the dining car was still available for reservations. It meant they had to eat at five-thirty, which felt really early until they got there and realized three things: that the dining car was done up with red velvet, that its sense of opulence was greatly enhanced by the warm glow of the sunset as it poured in the window, and that they could see dolphins playing in the ocean, silhouetted against the lowering sun, as they ate. In other words, it was romantic beyond words and by the time dessert came they were desperate to have it over with so they could go have a quickie in the bathroom. 

There was no quickie in the bathroom. Indeed, the attendant on the lower floor seemed to have had his seat assigned based entirely on preventing anyone from having any fun at all. Neither one really had to go, but they acted like they did, going in one after the other and checking their teeth and fixing their hair and then flushing when it seemed like they'd taken long enough. 

Steve and Bucky were there waiting when they reached the station. They piled out, toting their bags, and found that Steve's arms were long enough for him to hug them both at once. Bucky watched with a light smile. 

"Guys! It's so good to see you both. We're really glad you could come. And great game, man," Steve said, patting Thor's shoulder. 

"You watched it?" Thor asked, pleased. 

"Of course we did. You did Lake State proud," Bucky told him. "Come on. We're parked this way." 

The car was a couple blocks from the station, and the night air smelled rich and sweet. "Jasmine and magnolia," Loki was told when he commented on it. 

"In January?" 

"Yup." 

"You guys hungry? I'm starving," Steve asked them. 

"I could eat," Thor said. 

"Yeah, me too. Sorry we're so late," Loki said. 

"No problem. We'll call ahead and get something for pickup. This is us," Bucky said, stopping next to a little hatchback. It glowed a sickly brown under the sodium lamplight. They crammed their suitcases into the little trunk and climbed inside. 

"Sorry. This isn't really very good for more than two people," Bucky said. 

"That's okay," Thor told him. 

Steve twisted around to face them. "I thought I'd order pizza, if that sounds good to you guys?" At their agreement, he pulled out his phone and called a preset. "Hi, I'd like to place an order for carryout. I'd like one large pizza with kale," he began. 

"Kale?" Loki said furiously before Thor clamped his hand over Loki's mouth. Loki struggled, trying to yell, but Thor kept his hand firmly in place so little escaped beyond random indignant noises. 

"...and cauliflower and tomatoes, and one large with potatoes and chicken. Half an hour? Perfect, we'll be there," Steve finished. 

Thor let go of Loki's mouth once Steve hung up. " _Kale_ pizza? I swear to God, Steve, if you've turned into a fucking hippie, you can take me to a hotel right now." 

Bucky laughed. "Wait until you try it, it's actually really good. And Steve has definitely not turned into a hippie," he said. He reached over to give a quick squeeze to Steve's knee while they sat at a traffic light. 

"I'll try it," Loki grumbled. He did feel inclined to take Bucky's word about Steve not being a hippie, if nothing else. He doubted that anyone with that much eyeliner would lie about something like that. 

It turned out to be good, mainly because it was Indian pizza, rather than the ungodly horror he had pictured. It also turned out to be very cozy and filling, and they had been up very early, and by the time the food was gone both of them were yawning. 

"We've got the guest bed already set up for you," Steve said. "It's this way." 

The small study had been emptied of computers, though Steve apologetically told them that he might have to come in to get books. They were tired enough that all they really cared about was that it had a bed, and they said as much. 

"Well, we've got that much for you at least," Bucky said. "Good night." 

The desk light had an orange glass shade that cast a warm glow over the room. Loki looked really good beneath it as he undressed for bed. 

"Time for the postponed quickie?" Thor asked. 

All they _really_ cared about was that the room had a bed and a door. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world's most adorable tourists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed a break from proofreading, and here we are! Enjoy.

It wasn’t as warm as LA, but it was still really nice, especially compared to back home. Loki had to wear a sweater, which was just enough to make him look snuggly without making him look like a blob, the way he knew his winter coats always did even though Thor said he still looked good. Thor didn’t need anything over his shirt, and Loki was torn between feeling smug and glaring at all the looks cast at his gloriously ripped boyfriend. It was only reasonable, he knew, but he couldn’t really help himself. At least Thor seemed oblivious.

Thor wasn’t oblivious. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought he’d ever have so many men checking him out, and it was pretty hard to ignore the ego boost, but it was something he could enjoy without letting on. It wasn’t like Loki needed to worry, but Thor knew he did, and he didn’t see any reason to add to it. And it wasn’t like Loki wasn’t getting checked out like crazy, too; he was way too pretty not to be. All four of them were attracting attention, really; Bucky and Steve walked in front of them, leading the way and pointing out everything that they thought Loki and Thor needed to see. This ranged from sites of great historical importance (Steve) to the sea lions that had taken over one of the fishing piers and had interactions so hilarious that they could have watched for an hour if it weren’t for the appalling odor (Bucky; he had both a keen sense of humor and a keen sense of smell), and everything in between.

They spent the whole day outside, taking advantage of what they were told was a very lucky lack of rain. Even lunch was outside, eaten at a table in a seating area that used to be a parking space. That evening they went to see a concert, a one-man band consisting of one of Bucky’s biggest success stories. The man somehow managed to play a washboard with his foot while he ran a long bow over a musical saw. It wasn’t the sort of thing any of them would have listened to at home for fun, but Bucky was rightly proud of the progress of his client.

The next day Bucky had to work, and Steve had to join in a teleconference in the afternoon, for which he apologized to them all morning. They really didn’t mind, and told him so; it was just nice to have a real vacation, with the stress of the game out of the way, before classes started up again. After lunch he gave them the keys and warned them that GPS occasionally tried to send people into the ocean, so they shouldn't trust it too much. They promised not to sink his car in the Pacific. “Thanks, I really appreciate it,” he said.

“Where do you want to go?” Thor asked. He was driving, because it was an automatic, so Loki didn’t see the point. Loki put something into his phone out of Thor’s sight and set it in the slot under the stereo.

“Follow the pushy lady,” Loki told him.

The GPS barked out orders and Thor followed them through utterly ridiculous mazes of freeway, down a distressingly ill-banked exit ramp, and finally onto city streets.

“Ooo! Park there!” Loki said, pointing. “It’s close.”

Thor nabbed the spot and turned to Loki. “Now will you tell me where we are?”

“Just somewhere I wanted to go,” Loki said evasively. He turned off the speaker on his phone so the other people on the sidewalk wouldn’t know they were tourists. The shopping street was lined with magnolia trees, their sweet white scent filling the air and the waxy leaves crunching under their feet. They walked past a cooking store, which was not the sort of thing they’d normally pay any attention to but for a display in the window. They paused.

“I think we have to get some,” Thor said.

“Yeah.”

It was difficult to keep a straight face, and they were pretty sure the cashier knew exactly what was going on. It was possible she assumed that they really did want rimming sugar for making cocktails, but it seemed pretty unlikely.

“I can’t wait to try this on you,” Loki said.

“I want to try it on you first,” Thor said.

“I saw it.”

“I paid.”

“Okay, well, I’m not going to fight you over how soon you get to give me a rim job,” Loki said loudly as they passed a little old lady. Thor punched him, but she just started laughing.

“Hit it while it’s hot, boys,” she told them as she walked by.

“I want to be her when I’m old,” Loki said.

Thor smiled at him. “Why wait?”

The place Loki actually had intended them to go was at the end of the block. “A non-sleazy sex store,” he said as proudly as though he were the one to open it.

Thor started grabbing the display dildos off the wall and inspecting them from a variety of angles. “I like this one,” he declared finally. “It reminds me of you.”

“It’s neon yellow,” Loki said, sounding pained.

“Yeah, but see that little ridge right there? It’s just like you, and I love it when-“

“Are you gentlemen finding everything okay?” asked the clerk.

“Thanks, we’re just browsing,” Thor said.

“Okay, well, let me know if you have any questions. This wall is all the basic dildos, and then around the corner are specialty dildos and vibrators.” She left, and they wandered around the corner trying to look like that was what they were about to do anyway.

And there it was. Or rather, there _IT_ was. Thor lifted it from the display shelf with reverent hands. “A thing of beauty and a joy forever,” he breathed.

“That’s Keats,” Loki said, reaching out one finger to stroke it.

“That’s what this is. How much is it?” Thor asked.

Loki picked up the box to look for the price tag. “Anniversary and Valentine’s?” he suggested.

Thor nodded. “I cannot _wait_ to use this on you,” he said.

“Same here,” Loki said.

The cashier was nice about splitting it between two cards, and soon they had it tucked safely away in the trunk and were on their way to the beach. There wasn’t really that much sand, so they walked along it until they noticed people climbing over the low rocks and peering intently down.

“Hi! What are you looking at?” Thor asked when they got close.

The people looked up. “It’s low tide, and the tidepooling here is really good. Come up and take a look,” said one of the women. They climbed up and watched as she continued pointing things out to her daughter, her smooth brown hands darting about just above the surface of the water. “There’s some sea urchins in that corner, and –oo! Look, there’s a crab!” she said.

She was really nice about letting them join her until her daughter finally lost interest and had to be taken home. “Have a good rest of your visit,” she told them as she lowered the small girl carefully down to the sand.

“How did she know we were tourists?” Loki demanded.

"Oh, baby. I love you," Thor said.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this image for months, just waiting for the chance to use it. You can imagine the thrill. 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

The visit was way too short. They got there very late on the night of the second (or early on the morning of the third, if you wanted to be pedantic about it, which Steve did, because it drove Bucky hilariously nuts) and had to leave on the morning of the seventh.

The plan was for Steve to take Thor and Loki on a final day of sightseeing while Bucky was at work, and then to pick him up when he got off to go out for dinner and an art opening.

Steve liked to wake up a few minutes before the alarm. It was nice to watch the room slowly grow light and listen to Bucky's soft dream-breathing.

Steve didn't always get what he liked.

"They're not as quiet as they think they are," Bucky whispered.

"Not even close," Steve agreed. "Should we go be noisy in the kitchen?"

"Nah, I've got a better idea," Bucky said, reaching for him.

 

Steve first took them _up_. "You should both sit on the right side," he told them as they got in the car that morning. "Better view." What he didn't say was that not only was the view that way more enjoyable, but it had more of a long-distance aspect, which helped a little with all the switchbacks. Not a lot, but there were enough of them that any help they could get would be welcome.

To Steve's surprise, it was Thor, not Loki, who got motion sick. It really seemed like a more Loki-ish thing to do. "Sorry, man. You can't get sick until we reach the top. There's nowhere I can pull over without getting hit," he said.

"I'm all right," Thor said weakly. "That's a really pretty view."

"Gorgeous," Loki agreed.

They fell back into silence until they reached the top. "This is an extinct volcano. All the acid in the soil makes it great for the huckleberries," Steve said as they tramped past a huge patch of low red shrubs.

"Can we eat some?" Loki asked. Thor gave a feeble moan at the word _eat_. "Sorry, baby," Loki added quickly. "But can we?"

"They're out of season. You'll have to come back."

Standing on solid ground and feeling the crisp clean air fill his lungs had Thor feeling better quickly. "Can you see whales from up here?" he asked Steve.

"Maybe if you had really powerful binoculars. But they're out of season, too. They went by a couple months ago."

Even without berries and whales, it worth bringing them up here. "You see those really craggy islands out there?" Steve asked, pointing to some jagged rocks far out in the ocean. "The water around those has the highest concentration of Great Whites anywhere in the world. And this road behind us gets closed every spring for a newt migration."

"I didn't know you were so into nature," Thor said.

Steve shrugged. "Can't help it sometimes. After twenty-two winters this is pretty hard to resist. And the newts are really cute. There's a tarantula migration inland a ways, too, but we missed it this year."

"That sounds cool," Loki said.

"Yeah."

 

The clear skies didn't last, and a chilly rain drove them indoors before lunch. They wound up in a tea house that he had heard a lot about, but never found the chance to visit. They were given a corner table which was a couple feet off the ground, surrounded by low cushioned benches.

The music seemed like it could have been written just for rainy days; pleasant strings sang their light harmonies over the cheerful staccato of the rain against the glass. The walls were completely covered in ornate tiles, all swirls and Turkish tulips.The tea (when it came; part of why he hadn't been there before was that he'd been told it was slow, and it was so hard to find the time when there were always so many things to do) was spiced and lightly floral. The food took even longer, but the longer they were there the more the easy pace settled into him, and he barely even noticed that it had taken almost an hour.

 

The art opening that night was cancelled. It was an outdoor exhibition of fire sculptures, which didn't go well with rain.

"That sucks. I've never seen anything like that before," Loki said.

"Yeah. These artists do a lot of shows, though. You'll just have to come back," Bucky told him.

Thor smiled. "That would be fun. Maybe when it's not so rainy," he said.

They spent the evening playing Pandemic, instead. Trying to play it, anyway. They’d gotten it for Christmas and had tried to play it once, but there were enough rules that halfway through they gave up and went to bed for a different game that they already knew very well how to play. Now that they had guests, though, they couldn’t very well do that without being horrifically rude, so the four of them stuck it out together. Bucky was in the middle of a Prohibition cocktail kick, and the drinks, having been designed to hide the taste of bathtub gin, went down with dangerous smoothness when made with something actually worth drinking. They made even less progress figuring out the game than they had on their first try, but it was good to sit and laugh with old friends. They both liked the people they had met out here, but it just wasn’t the same as being with people they’d known for years. Old friends were important.

Bucky said goodbye before he left for work in the morning. The kiss he gave Steve was a little longer than usual, a silent way to say _I know, me too_ , and he gave their guests goodbye hugs (a long one for Thor, a mercifully brief one for Loki) before he left to catch his bus. There was just time for a quick breakfast at the diner down the street before Steve took them to the airport, and then after another round of hugs, they were gone.

Steve was reading when Bucky got home that night. Bucky leaned over the back of the chair to wrap his arms around Steve’s shoulders and peck a kiss on the top of his head.

“So, do you think it worked?” Bucky asked.

Steve shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new kind of toy means a new kind of fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I meant to finish this ages ago but I got a vertigo flareup and even *thinking* about sex was way too dizzying. 2/10 would not recommend.

"I'm not ready for vacation to be over. Can't I take a term of vacation, if I promise to go to some museums?" Loki asked.

"I don't think it works that way, babe," Thor said.

They were standing in line, waiting to board - first class had already boarded, for fuck's sake - when the overhead speakers staticked into life.

"This is an announcement for flight 251 with service to Chicago O'Hare and continuing service to New York LaGuardia. Due to developing weather conditions, Chicago traffic control has ordered our plane to remain here until they have cleared us for departure. We apologize for any inconvenience, and will keep you updated as soon as we have further information."

It was very nearly the last thing they wanted to hear. Anniversary celebration sex - _proper_ celebration sex, for all that yesterday's completely silent and carefully non-drippy oral was fun too - and their new toy were waiting for them to get back to the dorm.

They sat back down as the people who were already on the plane got back off. They watched the news on the tv that hung near the podium, the badly done captions at least giving it a little humor. The agent finally came back and said that the wait would be at least two more hours; passengers should be back at the gate by 12:10 for an update.

"Should we get lunch? I'm not really hungry, but if we leave at noon we'll be starving by the time we get to Chicago," Thor asked.

Loki sighed and picked up his bag. "Yeah, you're right."

 

Between delays getting into O'Hare and more delays getting back out again, followed by the painfully long bus ride from the airport back to campus, they didn't get to bed until four am. With the time change, it wasn't quite as awful as it sounded, but it was still bad enough. Especially when Loki's alarm went off the next morning at nine.

"I'm supposed to be the early one," Thor groaned.

"Sorry. Student paper staff meeting. Donald's being a total dick," Loki said, starting to get up.

Thor caught Loki around the waist and pulled him back into bed. "I wanted to sleep in and play with our present," he said, nuzzling his lips into Loki's neck.

"And trust me, I would rather do that than tramp through the snow in order to talk to people I don't like," Loki told him. He tilted his head, giving Thor more room and enjoying some attention before he finally pulled away.

"Well, while you're in your meeting, just remember that I'll be here in bed getting all ready. All warm and relaxed and slippery and ready."

"That really doesn't help, Thor."

"It wasn’t meant to."

 

The meeting would have sucked even if he didn't know there was something good waiting for him as soon as it was done. He kept glancing at the clock, thinking about what Thor was doing. Breakfast first, he would do that as long as he was up. He would have gotten to the dining hall about the time the meeting started. Ben was in the middle of droning on about the paper's finances when Loki checked the time again. Ah, Thor would be back now, and getting into a nice hot shower to get his muscles all loose and relaxed. By the time they got to advertising and Jeb's dismally boring report, Thor would be towelled off, his skin glowing deliciously the way it always did after a good rubdown. Now he would be getting into bed and digging his lube out of the dresser, working himself open - Loki had a renewed flare of irritation at the existence of this meeting, he loved watching Thor prepare himself, those thick fingers sliding into the tight ring - and finally just lying there, empty, waiting to be filled. And the look on Thor's face when he had spotted the toy in the store...

Loki was out of the room before Donald could finish the word _adjourned._

 

Thor had been waiting for thirty-seven minutes. Thirty-seven minutes spent lying there in bed, the freshly washed new toy next to him. He didn't have to give his cock a single stroke to keep it hard as he waited; expectation alone gave him surges of anticipation that left his skin tingling.

Twenty-six inches of soft, flexible silicone. It was shiny and black and both cockheads had been perfectly sculpted, round and flaring just the right amount, with a finely detailed slit at the end. He had been more than a little tempted to give it a test run; he'd even reached for it twice, but both times he stopped himself with the thought of how much better it would be together. And then at last he heard the key in the lock, and Loki was home.

Loki's cheeks were pink with cold and his eyes were bright with something else entirely. "Hi," he said, smiling appreciatively at the sight before him.

"Come here, you took forever," Thor moaned, reaching for him.

"Just give me a minute to warm up my hands," Loki said. He held them up, showing how red they were. "I forgot my gloves, and you don't want these things on you."

Loki was slightly breathless. He must have hurried home. "Yes, I do," Thor said. He watched forlornly as Loki went into the bathroom and turned on the hot tap.

"You say that now," Loki yelled over the running water. He finally turned it off and came back into the room, drying his hands as he approached the bed.

Now that he was closer to the bed, Thor could see all the tell-tale signs that said Loki wanted him too; the brightness of his eyes was the flash of light against blown-black pupils, the parted lips and heated breathing were from more than a hurried dash up the stairs, and those elegant hands, usually so carefully controlled, never trembled like this from anything but a longing for Thor.

Thor slid towards the middle of the bed, making room at the side. "Come on. I waited for you so long," he said.

The speed at which Loki undressed was impressive. Maybe the fastest he'd ever done it. His hands weren't _really_ a blur, but they were about as close as humanly possible and as Thor watched more and more of that perfect skin getting revealed - the usual creamy white turned just a little pink from cold or exertion or arousal - it was way, way too slow.

"Hurry up," Thor said, reaching for him again.

"You're extra greedy today," Loki said. He laughed breathlessly as he hopped on one foot to tug the sock off the other.

Thor made a noise that sounded petulant even to himself, and he thought he might actually _whine_ but then Loki was lying down next to him and kissing him and Thor almost forgot that anything else existed besides those soft, supple lips.

Almost. "Jesus, your hands are freezing!" Thor said, gasping as icy fingers slipped around his waist.

"Told you. They were way worse before. Now how about you warm me up?"

Thor took it like a champ, barely wincing when Loki's cold hands splatted down on his chest. Although, he had to admit after a few moments, those cold thumbs brushing over his nipples weren't bad at all. They were good, actually, really really good and then Loki's lips were on his once again and they had grown hot.

"How do you want to do this?" Loki asked.

"You first. I want to see to you first," Thor said.

That was the sort of attitude Loki liked to encourage, plus there was more than a hint of begging in Thor's tone that he liked very much indeed. "Okay," he said.

Thor rose to his knees as Loki rolled to his back. When he realized that Thor was pausing to admire him, he bit his lip and opened his eyes wide, the look of innocence paired with such sprawling, shameless nudity that never, ever failed to drive Thor mad with wanting. Thor's eyes never left Loki's face as he reached for the bottle of lube and slicked his fingers.

Loki's legs fell open, inviting, as Thor lowered his hand. He wrapped it around Loki's cock and gave it slow, teasing strokes until he was every bit as hard as Thor was, though not yet leaking. That would happen soon enough. Only when Thor was satisfied did his fingers tiptoe their way down, teasing the powder-soft, tightening sack and stroking over the smooth perinium before reaching his goal.

Loki curled his back, pressing his hips upwards, but Thor moved with him, drawing little circles, tapping gently, and _not_ slipping inside no matter how much Loki wiggled.

"You seemed way more impatient a few minutes ago," Loki pointed out.

"Oh, trust me, I am," Thor assured him. "But I also want this to be perfect." His voice had gone low and rough, the way no one else ever got to hear it. And the quiet sound he made when he finally pressed through the waiting ring was even better, almost as good to hear as it was to feel, such knowing fingers.

Once Thor started, he lost any inclination to hold himself back. He coaxed Loki open as quickly as he could, faster than he had ever done before but not too fast, not too fast to be good and then he was drawing away and coating one end of the toy with about three times as much lube as seemed necessary.

It was difficult to get it in, though it wasn't as thick as either of them; it was malleable, designed to be safe and gentle however far within it went, but it wasn't the easiest thing to get started. Finally, though, he felt it slip in. After that, it went easily. Thor's face was rapt as he watched unblinking. It went deeper, deeper, and Loki shifted his hips slightly as he tried to adjust to the new sensations that were flooding his senses. He was barely aware of the warm drops of precum falling from his cock onto his stomach as he closed his eyes, letting himself focus on the feel of it. The motion stopped abruptly and he felt a slight pressure. He looked up at Thor.

"It's okay. I read about this, we just have to be gentle," Thor told him. Loki nodded, closing his eyes again and trying to order his body to relax. Even the pressure felt good, strange but good, and at last it eased and the toy was moving again, _so_ deep now and he gasped at it, and still it went. The next time it stopped, he felt Thor move.

"Is that it?" he asked.

Thor was sitting back on his heels, staring at him. "That's your share," he said. Sometimes he got a look on his face like he was a starving man and Loki was food, or like he was a freezing man and Loki was home. Like Loki was the fulfillment of all he could ever desire. He had that look now. "Thank you, baby," Thor said softly. "I know you're doing this to be nice to me."

Loki shook his head. "I'm doing it because you want it. That's different."

For all its shakiness, Thor's smile was so sweet, and he leaned over and kissed Loki's knee before crawling up the bed to hover above him. "Will you hold it for me?" he asked.

Sitting up, even just enough to take hold of the other end as Thor slicked it, felt _very_ strange. He could feel it, moving around so far within him with every motion, every tensing of his muscles. He did it slowly, allowing his body time to adjust and accommodate the welcome intrusion. Once he had a good grip on it, he brought it into place at Thor's opening. "Okay," he said.

As he had guessed, the floppiness was what made it difficult, and it took a couple misses before he managed to work the other end of it inside Thor. And then it was in, they were sharing it, and Thor was moaning and lowering his head to whisper into Loki's ear as Loki fed it further in. Babbled words spilled from his mouth with every little push inwards. " _Mmm!_ \- oh, Loki, yes... I love this, I love that we're sharing this... oh, baby, you are-"

Thor broke off with a low moan, his head thrown back, just as Loki felt it encounter resistance. He did as Thor had done for him, giving no more than the lightest, easiest pressure he could, and Thor's breathing was rough and hungry and then it _went_ and Thor moaned again, ragged, heady bliss as it slid deeper until at last there was no more to give. "That's it. That's everything," Loki told him. He reached up with a shaking hand to smooth Thor's hair back from his face. Thor caught his hand and kissed it, a long, burning kiss on his palm.

"I'll move in a minute. Right now I just want..." Thor said. He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to. He leaned back down, those ridiculously massive arms bulging out around them as he gave Loki the most deliciously filthy kiss, wet and sloppy and uncontrolled. His tongue was so hot and thick and it swirled and tangled with Loki's, and they both made the same sharp sound as Thor slowly curled his hips back, the increasing the distance between them and pulling the toy out of them both at once.

When he began to ease back down, letting it once again slide deeper, Loki could feel the quaking in his arms. Loki wrapped his fingers around Thor's biceps. "I've got you. You're okay, I've got you," he whispered. Thor gave him a shaking smile in return.

The third time Thor drew back his hand slid between them to capture their cocks and start stroking. Loki cried out and arched up into the touch, his abrupt motion driving the toy in more sharply than they had felt before. Thor broke away from Loki's lips to hang his head, fighting for breath. He was panting raggedly, and his glazed eyes and tensed muscles all spoke to how completely he was coming undone.

"Can we turn over? I want you above me," Thor asked. At Loki's nod of agreement, Thor lowered himself as far as he could without worrying about crushing him, twisted his legs around Loki's, and rolled them. They both gasped at the sensation of the toy shifting with their movements and their eyes were pulled to one another, irresistible as love itself.

Loki shifted so that he was sitting upright, pushing their hips closer together than Thor had done and sending the smooth slick heads the deepest they had yet been. His jaw was slack and his hair was clinging damply to his face and he shoved it back with a trembling hand as he smiled down at Thor. He wrapped both hands around their cocks and began to work his hips, small motions, no more than a couple of inches in each direction but it was enough, it was perfect with the feel of those nimble fingers stroking him, coaxing him, taking him apart, and that perfect, beloved face above it all.

Thor was barely aware of his own motions, only that he needed more, needed this to not stop, needed to thrust up into the slick grasp, needed to take it deeper. It was all so close to overwhelming that he didn't even feel his orgasm approaching, and his cry was of surprise as much as pleasure. He shook and gasped and Loki kept going, working his hips to fuck them both and stroking Thor's cock so expertly and taking Thor higher and higher.

"Yes, baby, so perfect like this, so pretty when you come," Loki panted in his ear, and then he felt more splashes of liquid heat across his stomach as Loki buried his face in Thor's shoulder and moaned, soft and long.

When it was over, Thor wrapped his ahor wrapped his arms around Loki, pulling him down to relax on top of Thor's body. "Thank you, baby," he said again, his voice quiet in Loki's ear.

"You may have noticed I enjoyed it as well," Loki told him, smiling.

Thor gave a hum of happiness and pulled him tighter. They lay there in peaceful contentment a few minutes, just breathing together. Loki finally sat up and gave Thor a kiss.

"You give the best afterglow, and I kind of hate to move, but now that I'm not turned on this thing feels really weird," he said. Thor had to agree, though he did it reluctantly.

Loki pulled it free, keeping his motions slow and careful. He rose on wobbly legs to cross the room and throw it in the sink and grab a towel before returning to bed and collapsing in it. Thor made a vague show of cleaning up before pulling the blankets over them both and twining together.

He was half asleep when Thor breathed _I love you_.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

The nap was long enough to make up for the short night, and they woke feeling many kinds of satisfied, but not one. One important one.

"If we hurry we can still make the dining hall," Thor mumbled.

"What's the alternative?" Loki asked. His face was buried in Thor's chest and it was warm and cozy and lunch in bed sounded way better than going back out into the snow.

Thor raised his head - enough to see, not enough to dislodge Loki, who was rumbling a complaint all the same - and looked over to where they kept their food. "Dry cheerios," he said.

"Fuck," Loki said, nuzzling his face in deeper.

"It's gotta be done, baby."

" _Fuuuuck_ ," Loki moaned.

"Well, I'm getting up," Thor said, doing just that despite Loki's flailing attempts at holding on to him, "and you can either get up too and come eat, or I can tickle you until it's too late and we both have to eat dry cheerios for lunch."

"Maybe they'd be good with grape soda."

"Loki..." Thor said threateningly.

"All right, all right. I'm getting up. See?" He slid out of bed and pulled on the clothes that lay puddled on the floor from earlier. "After lunch let's go grocery shopping, I want to have a few things around."

"No arguments here. I can totally see you eating cheerios with grape soda rather than going out when it gets extra cold."

"You wouldn't have to, you could still go to the dining hall."

Thor shook his head _no_. "Just the thought of you doing it is too much."

 

They got themselves properly bundled up (and after that morning, Thor was careful to double-check that Loki remembered his gloves) and hurried out. They got there just as the door was being swung shut.

"Sorry," said the student worker, looking not at all like he meant it.

"Please!" said Thor. "Please, we'll just get something off the buffet, we won't go through the line."

That was when the guy looked up and saw them. Saw Thor. Saw _Thor, campus hero._ "It's okay. Get whatever you want," he said, staring.

"Um, thanks. Okay," Thor said. He seemed a little uncomfortable, but he wasn't nearly as weirded out as Loki would have expected, and he realized suddenly what Thor's breakfast - in the dining hall, _alone_ , without Loki's surly glares to ward off at least a fraction of the fans - must have been like.

Thor went in first. Loki followed, giving the kid a death stare. They did, indeed, go to the buffet, just as Thor had promised. The staff left these steam trays until last, so they weren't really in anyone's way as they loaded their plates, though they did find themselves forced to make do with decaf coffee.

Loki steered them towards a two-person table, not really wanting to make any seats available for people to sit down and worship Thor. It turned out, though, that the lack of seats just meant they had people standing around watching them eat. He could feel their eyes on him, sizing him up, deciding if he was good enough for Thor, finding him wanting. By the time their lunches were half gone, Thor had signed thirty autographs and the food had turned to lead in Loki's stomach.

They were silent as they walked to the car. Silent as they got in and Loki finally coaxed it into starting after sitting in the cold for weeks. Silent as he pulled into the street. And when Thor spoke, it was quiet. "This won't last long. It's already the middle of basketball season, they'll forget soon enough."

Loki nodded. "I know. I just hate it."

Thor rested his hand on Loki's.

 

They managed to get an incredible amount of food for how much they spent. "How'd you do that?" Loki asked as they loaded the car.

Thor grinned at him. "You remember I grew up poor, right? You learn stuff."

"But I mean, this is enough that..."

"That we don't have to go to the dining hall for a week? Yeah."

Loki felt a pang. "This is your big moment of glory, though. I don't want to take it away from you."

"Babe, they've already put every player's winter term schedules online, so that people can stand around and watch us walk into the classroom. You really don't need to worry about my glory."

"Everyone loves you," Loki said.

Thor caught his wrist as he turned to push the cart away. "No, they don't. They don't know me. The people who love me know that you make me happy, and that we're good for each other. Okay?"

Loki really hadn't meant to be so obvious, but Thor's words made him smile all the same. "Okay."

 

It was too cold out to salt the snow-packed sidewalks, so they took two trips from the car in order to keep one hand free to wave around wildly for balance as they carried in the groceries. After they got everything set inside the door they took off their wet boots to drip on the mat by the door, and padded around in stocking feet to put everything away. Despite having had his gloves on outside, Loki's hands were red, and Thor snuck into the bathroom while Loki was busy rearranging their small fridge.

"Hey, are you taking a bath while I'm out here working?" Loki yelled.

"No," Thor called back, swirling some bubble bath into the running water.

"What exactly are you doing, then?"

Thor came out, drying his hands on his jeans and picking up the last bag of stuff to sort. "I am drawing _us_ a bath for when _we're_ done," he said, his voice teasing. "So hurry up."

Barely five minutes later they were sinking into the hot water together. Thor sat at the back of the tub, letting his body shield Loki's from the cold porcelain that always took too long to warm up. Loki sat between his legs and leaned back against his chest.

"Is it sexy time again?" Loki asked.

"No, it's getting you warm and relaxed time," Thor told him. He had piled a bunch of fresh towels on the lid of the toilet tank, and as he spoke he reached up and between them to pull out a book. Loki made a rumble of contentment and let his head fall back onto Thor's shoulder as Thor found the first page and began to read out loud.

"Ethel the Aardvark went out one day," he started.

Loki gave a playful groan and started to sit up. "A kid's book, Thor?"

Thor tightened his free arm around Loki's chest. "Yup. And you have to listen, I've got you," he said.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I really didn't mean to leave this alone for so long. But now here we are.
> 
> Enjoy!

Morning and the first day of classes came way too quickly. Thor didn't mind having an eight am class in principle, but in practice, it was difficult to get out of his nice cozy bed inhabited by his nice cozy boyfriend who whimpered pathetically when Thor had to leave him.

But Thor was strong. He had won the Rose Bowl, he could win out over a pair of pleading green eyes. He really could.

"Baby, I _really_ need to go," he whispered the third time he got back in bed. "You know I have to keep my grades up."

"I've got other things for you to keep up," Loki mumbled.

"You're barely awake," Thor pointed out, laughing. "I'll be back in time to make you lunch." He slithered down in the bed until he was hovering over Loki's middle. "I will fill this tummy with PBJ's and peas, and we will still have half an hour before you have to go to class and I have to leave for work," he said, peppering kisses on Loki's stomach as he spoke.

Loki caught his arm when he tried to get up. "Just kiss my tummy a little more first," he begged.

"Three more," Thor said firmly.

Three became six, and six became nine, but then Thor was actually getting out of bed and putting on his boots and coat. He leaned down to kiss Loki (a reasonably speedy) goodbye. "Love you," he said.

"I love you too," Loki answered, trying to twine his arms around Thor's waist without Thor noticing.

"And I have to go," Thor said, catching his hands. "I'll be back by a quarter to twelve."

Loki groaned loudly until Thor pulled the door shut behind himself.

Coach had warned them of what to expect when they got back, and he'd gotten a little of it in the dining hall the day before, but it did nothing to prepare him for the reality. People were lining the hall outside his classroom, whispering and staring and a few with their hands raised for him to slap as he walked by. There were even more when class got out. It was pretty fun, being the center of so much attention, but he was really glad they weren't going to the cafeteria for a few days. This did not seem like the sort of thing Loki would deal with well. Basketball had already started, and Sunday afternoon was the first game against a real rival. Lake State was heavily favored to win, and after that people would forget about football.

Loki was getting out of the shower when Thor got back to the room, his skin glowing pink and delicious from the heat. “How was it?” he asked.

“Kinda crazy,” Thor said. “I thought it was fun, but you’d hate it.”

“PBJ, then?”

“It’s for the best. You get ready for class, I’ll make them.”

Thor sat on the couch to eat, the plate with his sandwich and microwaved peas perched on his knees. Loki picked it up and took its place before putting both plates on his own lap and leaning against Thor with a sigh. “They’re going to be all over you at work,” he said.

“I just sit at a desk. They’ll get bored and go away.”

“You think so?” Loki asked, frowning.

Thor leaned up and kissed his cheek. It was the closest he could get to the furrow between Loki’s brows. “I know so. I also know that it won’t matter because I know a good thing when I’ve got it and nothing anyone can do can change that.”

Loki regarded him a moment. “Okay.” He picked up his sandwich and took a huge bite.

 

They did get bored and go away but not until Thor had signed a ton of autographs and smiled for what felt like even more photos. It took an hour before he could get to his homework, of which he already had a ridiculous amount just from one class. And when he got home he found Loki naked in bed with a look on his face that was more anxious than seductive. He mentally set aside the cramp in his hand and the homework that he _would_ have gotten done and he sank to his knees to show Loki that he had nothing, absolutely nothing, to worry about.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

"Hi, Loki," Volstagg said, taking the seat next to him.

"Hi," Loki answered, trying not to look surprised. He didn't even know why he was – Volstagg was one of Thor's friends, and they were all nice to Loki, even if they weren't particular friends themselves.

"Did Thor get a chance to tell you about the party?"

"Party?"

Volstagg was just opening his mouth to answer when the profs began class. He held up one finger and mouthed _later_.

Loki nodded and turned his attention to the front of the room. He'd never been in a team-taught class before, and he hoped desperately that it wouldn't mean they had to listen to two people's worth of _learning philosophies_ or whatever it was that they were all talking about at the start of the term now.

Fortunately, they didn't – if anything, they got through all the introductory stuff in less time than in his other classes, as though they wanted to make sure that there being two of them didn't eat up all the class time – and it did look like it was going to be a really interesting class.

"Thanks for telling me about this class, I think it's going to be really cool," Loki said when they adjourned.

"Me too. And I'm glad to know a lit person, everybody else in the class that I know are other psych majors," Volstagg said. "So about the party. Has Thor told you that since we got back from the game we're getting hella attention?"

Loki gritted his teeth. Volstagg was from California and allowances had to be made. "I'd kind of gotten that impression," he said vaguely.

"Well, we definitely are. And some of us are okay – if Fandral could fill a swimming pool in attention and drown himself in it, he would – but a few of the guys are having a hard time. Like, Jermaine is really shy, and I practically had to pry Hogun's fingers off his door frame to get him to class this morning. So we're having a party Saturday in the field by the water tower, and we're probably going to end up taking a ton of selfies with people and all that stuff, but then maybe everything can get back to normal."

"Oh. That's... that's really cool. Doing that for the guys who don't like all the attention, I mean."

"So you'll come? I know it's not really your kind of thing, but we really are going to try to make it fun, and Thor's always happier when you're around."

"Sure," Loki said, smiling. "I'll be there."

"Cool. Hey, do you maybe want to work together on the group project? Unless there's somebody else you wanted to ask, it just seems like maybe it'd be good to have people with different backgrounds teaming up, so-"

Loki interrupted. "I'd like that."

*****

The party was even crazier than Volstagg had warned it might be, but Loki had expected as much. The team actually wore their uniforms so that people could get selfies with them all suited up. He really didn't have any complaints about spending several hours with Thor in incredibly tight pants, even if other people did get to share the view. It was still a lot fewer people than had checked him out on tv. It was somewhat marred by the winter coat that he wore on top – it was still January, after all, and it was one thing to be running around a field for an hour dressed like that, but something else entirely to be standing around while music blared and cheap beer poured from what seemed like unlimited kegs. The team were careful to be photographed holding soda cans, no beer cups, and if those cans had shots poured discreetly in before they were given to the players, well, that wasn't the sort of thing that ever made its way to the sheriff's office. Or, more importantly, ESPN.

They'd chosen the location well; the music was loud enough that if it were anywhere closer campus, they would've gotten shut down, but out here there wasn't really anyone to care. It wasn't the music Loki would have chosen, but that was hardly a surprise, and after a few jack and cokes, it didn't sound so bad. And even with all the people wanting selfies, Thor managed to spend most of the night with Loki, dancing until they got too hot and then walking hand in hand and talking until they started getting too cold.

The next day, the basketball team destroyed their opponents, and whether it was their win, or the party, or both, when Loki met Thor in the dining hall for lunch on Monday things were just as he'd promised.


	25. Chapter 25

"Thor, how do you go down on me so far without choking? I mean, I can do it sometimes, but you're really good at it." 

Thor looked up as he wiped his lips dry. "Were you thinking about your column while I was going down on you?" he asked. 

"I was thinking about it before," Loki said diplomatically. "And then you did exactly what the question was about so I couldn't really help thinking about it." 

"You're being nice to another letter writer?" 

"They seem like they deserve it. It's a good question, and google already failed them." 

Thor thought for a minute and shrugged. "I don't know. I just do it. You like it and I like it and so I do it." 

"That's not helpful at all," Loki said. He tried to make it sound like a complaint, but it was difficult to seem peevish while simultaneously tugging on Thor's arm to pull him back up the bed for snuggles. 

When Loki sat down to write later on, he had a plan. Not just for his answer - that was straightforward enough, even if tips from Thor would have been helpful - but for other things. It had been briefly entertaining to watch the entire student body assume he was a woman, but it was time for something new. 

_How do you deep throat without choking? My boyfriend told me a while ago that he'd like it, but I tried and almost threw up on him. He said that he likes what I do now, and that he doesn't want me to worry about it, but I want to surprise him. I tried googling it but I kept just getting porn._

_-Giving It A Go_

_Hi Giving,_

_Before I get to your question, I want to hold this letter up as an example everyone should strive for. First off, your boyfriend is handling his interest perfectly, open and honest with no pressure. And then you, wanting to fulfill his interest **because** he's being polite and considerate about it. I would bet anything that if he were being a jerk over it, you would not be making this effort. Let the many creeps who write to me learn, and learn well._

_Now to your question._

_You're right - while porn can be fun to watch if you're into it, it's definitely not a good place to turn for a tutorial. DTing isn't for everybody, and it's not always for the same people all the time. I tried asking my boyfriend for tips since, to be frank, he's better at it than I am, but he was pretty much useless. So here's what works for me..._

***** 

In an effort to appease the paper's long-term advertisers, the print version was released two days before each issue was put online. It was not usually a big deal. This week it was. Loki was meeting Sif for lunch after class - Anna was studying in Madrid this term, and after all the note-taking and studying they'd done together the year before, Loki found that he missed her and wanted to hear some of her news - and when he left the classroom the hall was full of people holding papers, clustered together and reading over each other's shoulders. Whispers echoed down the hallway as he passed serenely by. 

"It's you, isn't it?" Sif said the moment he sat down. 

"What's me?" he asked. 

"Don't bother with that, I know it's you. But I won't tell anyone. I liked how you shot down the assholes." 

"Thanks," he said. "They had it coming." 

"Damn right." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a small parcel. "A thank you from Anna. She said you were a lifesaver last year when she was too tired to get up for class." 

"That's really nice of her," he said, pleased. He tore it open to find a bunch of chocolate bars. "What's she think of Madrid?" 

Sif finished chewing her bite of rigatoni before answering. "She said it's beautiful, and she loves the classes she's in, but the accent took some getting used to." 

"Wow, I thought it would be easier for her, being a native speaker and all." 

"This from the man who has to turn on closed captions when he watches things set in the south," she answered dryly. 

"But not from England. That's a closer parallel," he said. 

She rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, she really likes her classes. There's one on medieval Spanish architecture and every single week they go to a different site to study everything in person." 

She continued on, talking about the great time their friend was having, and Loki was just starting to regret not doing study abroad when Thor walked into the dining hall with his over-loaded tray and took a seat next to a first-year who was eating alone, striking up an easy conversation. It was ridiculously sweet to watch. There were some very good reasons to be glad he had stayed, too. 

***** 

"I saw you having lunch with Sif today. Did you get to hear about Anna?" Thor asked. 

"Heard about her, saw her pictures, got the chocolate bars to prove it," Loki said, holding them up with a grin. 

When the candy was gone and they were collapsed beneath the onslaught of a really good sugar coma, Thor lolled his head to one side to look at Loki. "Why isn't she just posting stuff?" 

"Her parents, they're really conservative. She's putting up enough that they'll believe it's everything, and saving the good stuff for Skype." 

***** 

Neither one was aware of drifting off to sleep that night, but they woke with a shared start at the shouting that came pouring through their floor. 

"Isn't that the kid who told us to be quiet at like midnight on a Friday last year?" Thor asked. 

"Mm-hmm, he kept his room too," Loki answered, peeling his eyes open to get a bleary look at the clock. Four am. " _Fuck._ I'm going to tell him to shut up." 

Thor caught his arm as he was shoving the blankets back. "No - wait a minute. Just listen." 

The yelling was non-stop, words shooting like bullets from a machine. It took a minute to figure out what he was saying. "I don't care, I don't care, I'm already dead! I saw God, I saw God, I saw God-" 

Thor was reaching for his phone to call security when he heard pounding on the door and muffled shouts of _Security!_ , and then the yelling got even faster, and then it was gone. 

"Wow," Thor said. 

"Yeah." 

"PCP?" 

"Must have been something like that. You going back to sleep?" 

"Not for a while, I don't think," Thor sighed. "Snack?" 

"I got pudding mix today," Loki said. 

Loki had grown up eating instant pudding, but after tasting it once Thor put his foot down and said he was in charge of all future pudding. Loki had to admit that the cooked kind did taste better, as long as he didn't have to be the one making it. 

It was the first time they'd ever had the floor kitchen to themselves, the cramped room not feeling half so small when it was the two of them being squashed together. And once Thor had everything fairly well mixed, he could whisk it without having to watch it. Loki was already leaning against the wall next to the stove with a smirk of expectation. 

Heated kisses of distraction gave way (once the pudding was done) to warm, sweet ones, and by the time they'd eaten it all they were feeling snug, ready to go back to sleep with full stomachs and cozy chocolate lips and no more thoughts of anything else. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was some excitement around here, and I thought, hey, why not share it? I didn't get any midnight pudding, though. :(


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's sort of rambly, but then, so is life. Enjoy!

The administration provided basically no information about what had happened on the floor below them. "A disruption," they said. As a result, the rumors flew hot and furious, each more implausible than the last. The only things that seemed to bear any trace of truth were the few comments from the people in the neighboring rooms, about how he had looked tired recently, others saying he seemed jittery, his roommate saying nothing beyond that he was glad he'd spent the night at his girlfriend's place.

Eventually, it settled, as things do, and his spot was reserved someone who would be returning from winter term abroad, and it was set aside but not forgotten.

*****

This was without a doubt the most entertaining letter Loki had so far received.

_Dude, you suck another dude's dick? That's so gay._

It didn't even have the fake signature that they usually bore. He could help with that.

_-Insecurity Is My Middle Name_

_Hi,Insecurity!!!!!11!!!!!!!!111111!!!_

_No, actually, that's where you're wrong. In my boyfriend's case, yes, it is 'so gay.' In my case, though, it's actually 'so bi.' That happens sometimes. Try to keep up._

 

_No way are you a gay guy. You know too much about what girls like._

_Disbeliever_

_Hi Disbeliever,_

_Still bi._

 

_I thought I was straight, but I keep staring at this really cute girl in my class and I think about her all the time. Is that what it was like for you? Do you think I'm actually a lesbian?_

_Confused_

_Hi, Confused,_

_Again, I'm bi, but yes, it sort of was. I did take longer to realize I was interested in guys, but to be fair to myself, the girls I went to school with had grown out of the worst of adolescence while the boys were still the sort of messes no one would ever call hot. Some people grow up knowing, other people take a while to figure it out, and for some people it changes over time, and all of those are okay. So to answer your question - I think you are whatever you think you are, and you have full permission to be an asshole to anyone who disagrees._

 

Thor was reading over his shoulder again. "You wouldn't have liked me when I was a teenager?" he teased.

Loki stuck his tongue out at him. Thor grabbed it with his teeth.

"Mpfh!" Loki tried to pull his tongue away but Thor held on, chuckling. Loki had no choice but to tickle him into submission, his fingers dancing quickly over Thor's firm stomach. Even then, Thor didn't let go until he was nearly doubled over laughing.

"We were still teenagers when I met you, and I liked you fine," Loki said calmly. Only the quirk of his lips admitted to his own amusement.

"But I mean the _depths_ of teenagerness."

"I didn't really like much of anybody in the depths of teenagerness," Loki pointed out.

"I would have liked you."

"No you wouldn't. I was kind of an asshole."

"So what's changed, exactly?" Thor teased.

He knew perfectly well that it was only the surprise that let him tackle Thor onto the bed, but that was fine. He sprawled on top of Thor, tickling wherever he could reach.

It _wasn't_ only surprise that let Thor flip them both over, but that was fine too, because somehow despite his laughter Thor was licking his way down Loki's throat and then tickling gave way to sliding his hands under the hem of Thor's shirt and up, feeling the broad swell of his ribs beneath heated skin.

" _Mmmm._ Not too much though, baby, or we'll miss the movie," Thor murmured, his lips brushing against Loki's neck as he spoke.

"There's a later showing."

"I have an eight am class."

"Okay," Loki grumbled.

Despite his grumbling, it was really pretty nice just to lie there, kissing and touching only lightly. Thor eased off him and they settled on their sides, letting their legs tangle together. Thor really was a good kisser, his lips by turns gentle and seeking and then hard and demanding, and their skin so very soft. Loki ran his tongue over them, enjoying the feel before slipping between, stroking it against Thor's.

"I really love you," Thor told him.

"I really love you too."

"And we really have to go, if we're going to see this in a theater."

"Yeah, I want to. I guess."

Loki had had to park farther away from the dorm than they were used to and when they got to the theater, the ticket seller – a painfully bored-looking teen, not that Loki could blame her, with that job – perked up briefly until she noticed they were holding hands.

"Theaterfouronyourrightthetrailersarealreadyrunningyoushouldhurry," she said in a monotone.

The movie wasn't the best thing ever, as they'd rather been led to believe, but it was funny and violent and Ryan Reynolds could have looked a lot worse in his clingy red costume.

They'd been in enough of a hurry going in that they hadn't noticed the cutout. They did when they were leaving. _Sit on my lap,_ it said, and so they did. Loki went first, hovering over it for Thor to snap a few shots before testing his weight on it. Even though it held Loki okay, Thor kept some of his weight on his feet, just to be safe, posing coquettishly with his hands on his tight-squeezed knees.

"How do I look?" Thor asked as he batted his lashes.

Loki grinned, flicking back through the pictures. "Adorable. You look adorable."


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really didn't mean to leave this so long, so I'm going to call this chapter a triumphant return. It's Valentine's Day for them, the Ides of March for us, and so what better time to post a chapter where Loki has Thor ded of mildly kinky, super affectionate sex?

Contrary to his carefully cultivated image, there were many things Loki loved. Primary among them, of course, was Thor. He loved making Thor happy, and he loved making Thor hard, and he loved getting Thor off in every way Thor wanted. That last one was doubly gratifying, as he got to enjoy the pleasure of pleasing Thor _and_ the many pleasures Thor heaped upon him in return.

"Valentine's is a Saturday this year," Loki whispered as they lay curled together. The lights were already out and Thor was already yawning in his ear, but he didn't need to say much before letting Thor fall asleep.

"Yeah, you want to go up to the city?" Thor asked.

"Actually, I was thinking maybe we'd stay home, if that's all right with you. I want you in this bed all day. It's been too long since we've gotten a chance to do that."

"Mmm, I like that idea," Thor rumbled. "Anything in particular you want to do?"

Loki twisted around and kissed his jaw. It was agreeably scratchy this time of night and he rubbed his face against it. "You leave that to me. I have it all planned out."

"A surprise?" Thor gave another long yawn. "I like those."

"I know you do. Sweet dreams, babe."

Thor nuzzled his face into Loki's hair. "Sweet..." he began, and then he was asleep.

*****

On Valentine's Day Thor woke Loki with breakfast in bed.

"Cupcakes?" Loki asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Before noon, they're called muffins."

Loki held out his hand for the one Thor offered him. "What's frosting called before noon?"

"Valentine topping," Thor said confidently.

Loki smirked. "That's what we're going to have later."

"I'd guessed as much." Thor climbed across him, plate balanced in one hand.

The _muffins_ were cherry-vanilla, covered with light cherry frosting that tasted even better on Thor's skin than it did on breakfast.

Thor made a low, long sound of appreciation. "You're not usually this lively before your coffee," he murmured, slipping the fingers of one hand through glossy black locks.

Loki looked up from where he was busy licking Thor's chest clean. "Just think how much livelier I'll be _after_ I've had it," he pointed out.

"It must be ready by now," Thor told him. "I put the machine in the bathroom so it wouldn't wake you."

Loki beamed at him and got up. Thor rolled his head to the side to watch him go. They'd had a delightful bout of sexual pregaming the night before and despite the slight chill of their room they'd fallen asleep naked. Loki was a little taller than when they'd first met, perhaps another inch, and though he remained just as lithe his shoulders had broadened slightly. His waist and hips were as narrow as ever and his ass seemed more perfect every day. Thor said as much when Loki came out of the bathroom carrying the full pot and a towel to protect the dresser.

Loki's answering kiss was as dark and rich as the coffee of which it tasted. "Finish your breakfast," he said when they broke apart. "I have plans for you."

...plans that seemed to consist of hours upon hours of slow, almost lazy foreplay. It had been tough to find much time for self-indulgence recently, and Thor couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the holiday than to simply put themselves first. What that meant was more kisses than they'd shared all year, it felt like, quick ones peppering across smooth swaths of skin, long gentle presses of lips to lips, parting, languid tongues slipping between.

Thor wasn't even sure which of them Loki wanted to do the Valentine topping until a pillow was situated beneath his hips. Usually it was Thor's feet planted wide on the bed or his legs pulled up to his chest that served to make him accessible but it seemed that today Loki was determined to have him as limp as a rag doll and he certainly wasn't going to complain. "Why, Mr. Borsson, I think you're trying to seduce me," he said.

Loki smiled at the huskiness in Thor's voice and pressed a slick finger inside. Both of them were getting better at this, learning how to relax their muscles more quickly. It was wonderfully convenient but today there would be no _quickly_ , nothing but long and slow and sweet. "I don't know why you'd think that," he teased.

Thor smiled back and let his eyes fall shut, content. He managed to stay content for quite a long time, too, he thought, before he was saying, "Come on, Loki. Fuck me," and reaching for him. Loki was kneeling between his knees, readying him with a look in his eyes that made Thor think of snakecharmers.

"I'm not going to fuck you. Not like you're thinking, anyway. Close your eyes again."

Thor gave a plaintive whimper but did as he was told, and the bed shifted as Loki clambered up and off.

Loki's voice was so gentle when he spoke again. "I'm not going to fuck you. Instead I'm going to give you something else you want. You can look."

Thor opened his eyes to find his gorgeous boyfriend holding their vacation souvenir and wearing a wolfish smile. If it was possible to come from sight alone, he would have. "Really?" he asked.

Loki nodded. "We did agree, back in the store."

"But we haven't talked about it since, so I thought..." Thor trailed off.

"Thought what? Thought I wouldn't want to use it on you? Thought I wouldn't love watching it slide so deep in you, thought I wouldn't get off on seeing you finally get something you've fantasized about? With how much you want it, how could I possibly want it any less?"

"I don't know," Thor said.

Loki leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I am going to put every inch of this inside you and I am going to love every second."

Thor groaned. "Yes, please," he begged.

"Stay like this, nice and open for me. I just want to get you a little wetter and then we'll start."

The touch of Loki's fingers, slick and cool with lube, had him shaking with anticipation. "God, baby..." he gasped.

"I like that. God-baby," Loki said.

"I'll call you whatever you want. Just keep going."

"Mmm. Do you want me to keep going or do you want me to give you your Valentine?"

"Yes, that."

But Loki wasn't done teasing. "Only imagine how it's going to feel, so deep, deeper than anything we've ever done. And once it's all the way inside, then you'll get my mouth, too. Every inch of your cock down my throat, you'll come so hard. Think how it'll feel inside when you come."

"Fuck, Loki... I want that, yes. I'm ready, I want it-"

"You always squeeze down so deliciously, and you thrust your hips up, you can't help it, and it'll shift around inside you the whole time. All you have to do is tell me how much you want it, and it's yours."

Thor's reply came in struggled, gasped gulps of air. "I've wanted this for years... the first porn movie I ever watched they used one, and I've wanted it ever since. I jerked off for months afterwards, thinking about it. You know how hard it was to get private computer time at home, and I just kept coming over and over to that memory."

Loki had not known that; he had seen the look on Thor's face when they saw it in the store and that had been enough for him to want this too. And now, to learn the reason... his cock ached at the very thought of it.

He pressed a burning kiss to the soft skin of Thor's inner thigh. "Then I am so very happy that we are doing this today," he said softly. "You just relax and let me take care of everything. Okay?"

Thor's fingers came down to stroke his cheek. Loki smiled and leaned into it as Thor spoke. "Thank you, baby. I love you so much," he whispered.

Loki kissed his palm. "I love you too." He rose to his knees and when Thor looked up at him, he looked just as wrecked as Thor felt. "Nice and easy, here we go," he murmured, and then it was sliding in.

It _was_ easy - Loki had prepared him well, and it was soft, so that even though it was not much more slender than Loki's cock it was easier - and Loki was so careful, going far more slowly than he needed to. Loki would give him only a tiny bit, no more than half an inch, he didn't think, before pressing an affectionate kiss to his knee, and then another bit and lean forward to lick a warm stripe up Thor's cock, and then another before sucking little marks to the soft inside of Thor's thigh. A few times Thor felt a strange vague pressure inside and Loki would be _so_ careful waiting for it to ease. Strange, how it could be so easy and yet so-

"How does it feel?"

"Intense," Thor said. "And..." he rested his hand on his abdomen. He wasn't sure if he really felt it, or if that was his imagination. Not that it really mattered. He gave a ragged laugh. "It's amazing. So good. It just keeps going deeper and deeper."

Loki smiled down at him. His eyes were glassy, Thor saw, glassy and dark and his skin was flushed as though he were the one being half-drowned in sensation.

It had sounded good to say he was going to give Thor every inch but he stopped while there was still a good handhold. Loki had seen the videos where people made these things disappea, and yeah, they were hot, but he'd also read plenty of horror stories about trips to the ER to get things removed from asses and the chance of one didn't really seem worth the risk of the other. Anyway, he loved seeing how happily Thor's opening stretched around it.

"Okay. That's everything," Loki said as he came to a stop.

Thor gave a faint smile. It was taking everything he had just to handle this and he was still so close to overwhelmed.

"Do you want a minute before I suck you off?"

"Maybe more than that. If that's okay."

"Of course it is. Do you want me to try moving it a little?"

"Please."

As if when Thor looked like that - half-delirious, already so close to undone, covered in sweat despite the cool of the room – Loki could ever deny him anything.

Thor couldn't quite tell what Loki was doing – a mix of pulsing it in and out, an inch or so, plus some twisting, if Thor had to guess – but he felt it _everywhere_ , setting off nerve endings he didn't know he had, and it was good Loki had put on some music because there was no way Thor could stop himself moaning at everything Loki did.

"I didn't know I could feel so deep," he gasped, almost laughing from the intensity. "Don't stop... oh, god, I need your mouth."

Loki did not have to be told twice, not with how long that thick gorgeous cock has been right there taunting him. He leaned down and took what he wanted. It was even better to his mouth than to his eyes.

Loki kept playing with the toy as his head bobbed on Thor's cock, and he'd been right, Thor did lift up into it and it did make him squeeze and it kept moving the whole time he was and Loki felt so good, _so_ good...

There was only his name, breathed like a prayer, for warning, and Loki hid his spluttering as best he could, backing off some so the thick bursts of come hit his palate rather than the back of his throat and using his other hand to keep working Thor's shaft as he came for what felt like forever.

"Oh my god," Thor said, shaking his head in a daze. "Oh my god, that was incredible."

Loki kissed his thigh. "You ready for this to come out?"

"Will you come on me first?" Thor lay there looking so limp and happy and fucked out, gazing up at Loki with those dreamy blue eyes all wide and hopeful despite his exhaustion.

"Anything you want," Loki told him. He rose to his knees and scooted forwards. He was already dripping some, so that it took only the smallest bit of lube before it was just right, his hand slick and tight around his cock as he stroked himself in brisk sharp jerks. It wasn't going to be long, not after all that, but he held off as best he could, wanting to give Thor a show.

Thor, evidently, intended the same. "Mmm, baby, I love your body," he moaned, stretching and twisting, putting himself on display.

"Fuck. _Fuck,_ " Loki muttered. "Thor, please, I'm trying to-"

"No, don't. Come all over me, I want you to. Just let go for me."

Loki looked down at him and wondered how it was possible to love anything so much. Two more strokes and he gave Thor what he wanted.

He looked so gorgeous, kneeling there, back arched and eyes fallen shut, his careful control utterly lost as he came, a rain of warmth on Thor's warm skin.

Thor was still watching him when he opened his eyes. "I better get us taken care of," he said, his words a little slower, his voice a little lower. Thor lay still as Loki grabbed one of their towels and swiftly cleaned himself before tending, more carefully, to Thor.

The toy felt strange coming out, but Loki was careful with that, too, and then he was lying down facing Thor and there was something in his eyes that looked like home.

Thor pulled Loki into a close embrace. "Thank you," he said.

"Are you kidding? That was the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen in my life. Now that you're responsible for me having a new kink I hope you're ready to fulfill it."

Thor chuckle was soft, so low Loki felt it as much as heard it. "I would say anytime, but I don't think that's practical. Anytime we can, though."


	28. Chapter 28

"You're cute upside down," Thor said. He was lying across the bed with his head hanging off the side, staring at Loki and thinking about how much he liked him.

Loki looked over. "So are you," he answered.

"What are you working on?"

"My column," Loki said, sighing.

"Don't like it anymore?"

"It's not the writing, it's the editorial board. And a bunch of them quit over break so now it's basically one dick who's replacing them with his friends who are just as big of dicks as he is and now he's getting to indulge unchecked in his megalomania."

"I was in a class with Nikki last year. She didn't seem so bad."

"Trust me, she's faking you out. They're all just as bad as the next. Some are just more obvious about it than others."

"That sucks."

"Yeah. And most of the letters this week are basically repeats of last week. I only got two actual questions." The creaky printer huffed to life and Loki got up to take the sheet out and climb onto the bed, lying down next to Thor and holding it up for them to read together.

"You're not going to be an jerk to them, are you?" Thor asked nervously.

"No, I'm saving it up for the next staff meeting."

"Okay. Good. Now go write and I'll stand behind you and give you some encouragement. The sooner you start, the sooner you're done."

Loki sighed and got back up. At least once he got typing - with Thor rubbing his shoulders, digging in with his thumbs right where it always turned him into jelly - it went quickly.

 

_I don't like touching myself, there, I said it. I sometimes cry afterwards, and when I've told people this before I felt like I was being made fun of. What should I do?_

_Sincerely, Inthecorner._

 

_Hi Inthecorner,_

_First off, you should know you're not alone in that corner. A google search for "crying after masturbation" has four and a half million results – that's a lot of company. Maybe just looking at some of these might help you feel better about things. From reading some of them, it looks like for many people, what you describe is a response to the hormone crash that follows sex, rather than due to the sex itself, and is nothing to worry about. Other people feel guilty or ashamed, and if that's what makes you cry, all I really know to say is that you have the right to enjoy your own body. I have to be honest and say that how to reach that point is something a therapist is better equipped to handle than I am._

 

 

_Do you have any advice for getting over a fetish? I really need to get rid of this or I'm afraid I'm going to be alone forever. It's getting almost impossible for me get hard without smelling maple syrup, and that's not the sort of thing I can really ask a girl to put up with on any kind of long-term basis._

_-Sweet smellin' lover_

 

_Hi SSL,_

_I have to admit, what I pictured when I read the first part of your letter was kind of out there – I was expecting something like needing your partner to play dead or incorporating vegemite into foreplay. Those are the sort of things that (while perfectly okay, as long as everybody is on board) I can see a fair number of people finding personally unappealing. Especially the vegemite. Smelling maple syrup, though unusual, is pretty tame compared to bringing yeast leftovers to the bedroom. I can see how it might be a little awkward to discuss with a casual hookup, but I think anyone you like enough to even consider 'any kind of long-term basis' wouldn't mind. (And really, if they do? Move along and be glad you dodged a bullet.) Just be cool about it when you bring it up – more, "Hey, there's this thing I like," and less, "I have this devastating and horrible kink," and you'll be fine._

 

When Loki finished typing he sat back Thor brushed his lips against Loki's hair. "Hey, there's this thing I like..." he whispered.

"Mmm?" Loki purred. He tilted his head so it would be nice and easy for this kisses to make their way down his throat.

"It starts with d."

"Dick? Is it dick?"

"I _do_ like that. The thing I'm thinking about right now ends with r, though."

"Doctor? You want to play doctor? I'm down. Do you want to be the doctor or the patient? I think I'd be a great patient, but I'd also be a pretty great doctor. Whatever you want is cool."

"That wasn't what I'd been thinking, but now that you mention it..." Thor gave himself a mental shake. "But first I'd like to get dinner."

Loki glanced at the window. "I don't suppose you'd steal something for me? It's winter out there." He gave Thor that sultry look that he always used when he wanted Thor to do something.

Thor laughed. "That's what we wear hats for, baby."

Loki grumbled under his breath but he mirrored Thor, getting as protected as he could without ruining his look.

"I keep telling you, you look adorable when you're bundled up all warm and cozy," Thor pointed out.

"I don't want to look adorable."

Thor grinned at him. "Not even to me?"

Loki snorted and put on a hat.

*

He'd forgotten it was steak night in the dining hall. It came every two weeks and in theory it was supposed to be nice but in practice it meant that people who didn't arrive early had to sit at tables with messy tablecloths rather than being able to wipe off the wood.

The main complaint most people had was that unlike other nights, everyone got a ticket as they entered, so they could only get one piece of the main course. It made sense, with steak being more expensive, but it pretty much sucked for the vegetarians, who got the same tofu as always, only less. The only people it didn't suck for were members of Lake State's prize sports teams (football, men's basketball, women's rugby, and - of all things - the championship winning synchronized swimmers) because they got unlimited tickets, paid for by the athletic department. It made it extra important to sit with his real friends. Otherwise the fake friends all poured out of the woodwork. Like now.

"Thor! Hey, how's it going? I haven't seen you in forever," said the guy in line in front of them.

"Can't complain. How've you been?" Thor replied, wracking his brain for who this was.

"Good, good," said the guy. Totally useless.

For once Loki remembered when Thor didn't. "So what did you end up majoring in, Todd? I remember when we last talked, during the power outage freshman year, you were going to declare English, but I haven't seen you around the department."

"Yeah, I went with math... has it really been that long?" he faltered.

"Yeah," Loki said. He gave a smile that would put a shark to shame. "It really has."

"Oh. Well, nice to see you."

"Nice to see you, too," said Thor.

Loki showed his teeth again.

Once they got inside they saw Sif and Anna waving wildly at them from a tiny table. Even though they had to drag more chairs over, somehow their trays fit just right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could say I made up the maple syrup one but I read it in an advice column long ago and never forgot. Poor guy, I hope he found his partner in maply happiness.


	29. Chapter 29

Thor was finally starting to calm down some about exams, it seemed, or maybe it was just that Loki was getting better at calming him down before the stress built up too much. He certainly has less real justification for nerves than Loki did, as he actually managed his time and spread out his work, while Loki tended to leave everything for the last possible minute. Whatever the reason, though, a mix of a truly prodigious number of Oreos (shared), herbal tea (Thor, on Loki’s orders) and coffee (Loki, also on Loki’s orders), and blow jobs (given and received) got them both through midterms with what had to be a record-low panic. 

They had something planned for the drive home, too. A few weeks earlier Thor had looked through his syllabi, all spread out at once on his desk so he could go back and forth, and looked up at Loki with defeat in his eyes. 

“What’s wrong, babe?” Loki asked. He dipped a baby carrot in his bowl of ranch and held it out. 

Thor ate it. It didn’t help. “I was hoping we could go camping again but I don’t think I have a single weekend I can get away.” 

“I’m sorry. Maybe we can go over the summer?” Loki suggested, leaning forward to rest his hand on Thor’s. 

“Yeah. It’s just… I kinda grew up outside, you know? And when spring hits and I have to stay in all the time studying, it gets to me.” 

“You still have football practice, and you could start taking your books outside when it’s nice.” 

Thor nodded. “You’re right. I’m sure that’ll be fine.” 

It was perfectly clear from his face that he wasn’t sure at all. “What about break? I know once we’re home there’s all the family stuff to do, but there’s got to be something on the way that you’d like. We could stop on the way to Beuley.” 

Thor looked so happy Loki could have melted into jelly. “Thanks, that’s a really good idea. I’ll see what I can find.” 

What he found was a water bird preserve. It would add a couple hours to each day’s drive, but that wasn’t bad at all in the right company. There were cabins not far from the side of the lake and it looked perfect until he phoned and found they’d all been reserved. 

“I can take your number in case we get a cancellation, though,” said the woman. “There’s no one on the waiting list so you’ve got a decent shot.” 

"Thor Nordenfalk, the football player?" she asked when he gave her his name. 

"That's me," he answered. 

There was a pause. "I'll see what I can do." 

The call came on Wednesday. “It’s larger than you’d requested, but I can give it to you for that one's rate,” he was told. 

“That sounds perfect. Thank you. We’ll take it,” Thor said. 

Driving there wasn’t as pretty as going into the hills, but when they reached the lake it was _covered_ with birds taking a break from their migration, all paddling around, eating, getting into hilarious squabbles where they flapped their wings really hard and rose half-out of the water to try and look intimidating. 

They were on the path from the parking lot to the cabins when a whole squadron of geese came in right above them. 

“Should we be using umbrellas?” Loki asked. 

“Nah, don’t worry. I got you a bucket hat,” Thor answered. How he kept a straight face he didn’t know but he did know he’d be proud of that moment for the rest of his life. 

“Just because I love you doesn’t mean I won’t stab you.” 

“Yeah, but I’m not too, worried, cause you'd do it with –Hey, look at that tern, the one shaking its little butt.” 

Loki gasped. “It doesn’t even look real. It’s so cute it looks like a toy.” He stayed on the porch, trying not to laugh too loudly at their antics, while Thor took the rest of their stuff inside. They hadn't looked around after the first load and now he did, wandering from room to room and simultaneously marveling at how nice it was and wondering why anyone would bother with such a fancy cabin when all the really good stuff was outside. 

Loki caught up with him when he was in the bedroom and pounced, knocking him backwards onto the huge bed. "Good, it's cushy," Loki said. 

"Mmm. Now that you got me here, what are you going to do with me?" 

He didn't get his answer until after Loki had made a great show of thinking. "Well, first, I'm going to kiss you..." He gave Thor a long kiss, the kind that was sweet and slow, the kind that was nice on its own, without having to lead to more. "And then I'm going to remind you that we have one hour of daylight left and the whole reason we came here was for you to get some crunchy nature-boy time." 

That made Thor laugh. "You like it too, whether or not you admit it." 

"I like that _you_ like it. Now come on," he said, getting up and tugging at Thor's arm. "Maybe that cute one's come back." 

"Just to be nice to me, though." 

"Totally. It's all out of the goodness of my heart." 

"Hang on. I really do have something for you," Thor said, kneeling by his duffel bag. He gave Loki a wink and extracted, not bucket hats, but two compact umbrellas. "I did figure getting shit on would kinda put a cramp in the romance." 

Loki gave a happy sigh. "You're so smart." 

* 

Thor's slight edge in height wasn't enough to keep their umbrellas from bumping when they walked close enough to hold hands but once they figured out the proper angle to hold them so that they overlapped it was perfect. 

"I don't think we have time to circle the lake," Thor said, gazing wistfully across it. 

"We might be able to tomorrow," offered Loki. 

"That would mean getting up early on our first real day of spring break." 

"I know, but look how many ducks there are maybe twenty feet from our cabin. We're going to be waking up whether we actually get up or not. We might as well use it." 

"Okay, who are you, and what did you do with my boyfriend?" teased Thor. "I'd expect you to be more interested in putting a pillow over your ears and whimpering." 

"Don't think you won't owe me." 

Thor glanced over at him. The umbrella blocked the direct sun but the light reflecting off the water cast a glow over his eyes and his lips, all fresh-licked and smirking. "Deal." 

Most of the birds pretended to ignore them, swimming oh-so-casually just a little farther from shore as they ambled along the trail. With no need for haste they stopped often, pointing at the way this duck's feathers iridesced, laughing at how those two geese made a big show of fighting without actually touching each other. They walked longer than they really should have and the last bit of the walk back to the cabin was lit by phone, the light waking the ducks just long enough to make them grumble like fussy old men. 

"Nature still good?" Loki asked as they climbed the steps to their porch. 

Thor brushed his hand against Loki's. "Yeah. Really good." 


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this is on the short side, but the reason for that is what I'd planned for one chapter is now taking three, so there's more overall. Promise.

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to prep stuff for real camping food," Thor told him.

"You should be. Mortified. How will you make it up to me?"

Thor grinned. "I might have a few ideas." Dinner was all oven stuff - freezer pizzas, roasted pre-chopped veggies, apples pre-wrapped in pastry (also from the freezer) - which meant that besides putting things in at different times, there wasn't anything else to do.

What Thor thought of was opening a bottle of cider and sitting on the porch swing to make out while they listened for the timer to beep. They left the light off so they wouldn't get swarmed by bugs and so their late-arriving neighbors, crunching down the gravel path, wouldn't see them. It gave it an extra thrill to be doing this when any second an errant swing of the flashlight would expose a shirt being slid up or a hand disappearing into loosened jeans. The rasp of feet on shifting stone was loud enough to cover some heated breathing but they had to be otherwise quiet and when the timer went off, vibrating in Thor's pocket, Loki wasn't sure if he should smash the just phone or maybe the oven also, to be safe.

They waited for the path to clear before darting back inside with their glasses of barely-tasted cider. "There's a bug drowned in mine," Loki said, wrinkling his nose.

"Only one? I got three," Thor said. "Just pick it out with a spoon."

"How about I close my eyes and  _you_ pick it out with a spoon while I pretend this never happened."

Thor snorted and took his glass.

Their dessert lingered pleasantly in their kisses as they meandered to the bedroom, flipping off the lights as they went. The lust that had fallen to a simmer as they ate didn't take long to return to a boil and this time there was no phone to interrupt and no need for silence.

Their hands seemed to undress each other without conscious instruction and then they were naked and climbing into bed. Thor lay down facing him and wrapped their cocks in his huge warm hand and began stroking them together. Loki reached down to help, circling his palm lightly against the heads, dancing teasing fingertips over the sensitive folds Thor's hand couldn't reach.

Thor came first, and everything about it - his eyes squeezed so tightly shut and the play of light on his quivering lashes, the way his body went all tense and trembly, how his voice sounded when he gasped Loki's name with his apple-sweet breath - drew Loki after him.

"Come on, we better clean up," Thor said when they had caught their breath.

"Mmm, but now you've got me all cozy and happy. Can you bring me a cloth?"

"I could, but I can't brush your teeth for you."

Loki made a show of grumbling when he got up because it never failed to make Thor laugh and that was well worth getting up as long as the room wasn't too cold.

 

"Mff. You were right about the ducks," Thor groaned.

Loki glared at the window through slitted eyes. "It's still pitch black out there. How do they know?"

"Their ducky senses are tingling?"

"Evil seems more likely."

"They're so cute, though."

"I know."

Loki put a pillow over his head and the next thing he knew was Thor waking him back up but this time there was coffee. "Come on, babe. This was your idea," Thor told him. Loki was about to admit that it was a stupid one when he saw Thor's excitement and bit his tongue. He trailed behind when Thor went back to the kitchen and helped make breakfast. Dawn was peeking over the horizon when they went outside to eat and by the time they were done, pink suffused the sky.

Fast showers and fast packing meant they were on the trail with enough time to circle the lake without having to rush. It meant lots of stopping to watch the birds, stopping for kisses and maybe a little more, stopping for snacks and a chance to simply enjoy the beauty of a gorgeous day with no deadlines and good company. The trail map said it was four hours around without stopping. They took six.


	31. Chapter 31

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" Odin asked as he up to look out the front window yet again.

"They said they were stopping for lunch. If they went to a diner instead of fast food that can take a while."

"You're right," he admitted. "I worry too much."

Frigga joined him at the window and kissed him. "I love how you worry too much."

"You do?"

"Mmm," she answered, smiling.

"Oh, good," he said, and kissed her back. Then he kissed her a little more and when they looked out again Loki's car was there with their two sons in the front seat making a big show of hiding their eyes.

"See? They made it, and just as silly as ever," she pointed out.

Odin laughed and followed her outside. They had to knock on the car window to get noticed but then the boys were piling out for hugs.

"And I hope you didn't have _too_ big a lunch. I made lemon cookies this morning," Frigga added after they had all said their hellos.

“You’re the best, mom,” said Thor.

“I have a chocolate cake in the oven right now,” Odin told them.

“Oh. Um,” Thor said, looking between them. Loki bit his lip and said nothing.

Frigga managed to keep a straight face half a second longer than Odin. “He doesn’t, really. We wanted to see how you’d react.”

“No chocolate cake?” Loki asked mournfully.

Odin shook his head. “Once the delicious cookies are gone we’ll talk.”

“We can do that.” Loki popped the trunk and he and Thor grabbed their bags and followed their parents back inside.

It was lovely to see them both so relaxed and happy. She had gotten more time with them over Christmas break than she would now, but Thor was so stressed about the game and Loki was so focused on supporting Thor that neither had been able to really let go and enjoy being on vacation. Frigga’s job was still too new for her to feel comfortable asking for the whole week off, but they had agreed readily when she asked if she might leave a couple hours early each day. It seemed likely that the boys were probably going to be so busy catching up on sleep that she’d hardly miss any conscious hours that way.

Thor bit into a cookie and his eyes fell shut in bliss. “These didn’t sound as exciting as chocolate cake but I think I was wrong.”

“Odin does make a mean chocolate cake,” she said.

“He does. But these are amazing,” Loki added.

“So do you want to tell us how classes are going, or do you want to spend the week acting like you’re not in school?” asked Odin. He punctuated his words with the _clink-clink_ of ice into empty glasses.

“I’m in a course co-taught by people in English and psych, about the psychology of fictional characters. It’s pretty cool,” Loki offered. “It’s useful for my major but I get to count it as a social science distribution.”

“And I’m all done with my distros,” said Thor, fixing Loki with a stern look.

“That means he gets to play in mud all day.”

“Hey, sometimes I play with rocks that are already clean.”

“Not often,” Loki retorted.

Frigga looked at their smiles and thought yet again how glad she was they had each other.

 

“I don’t remember it happening,” Odin said helplessly when they were alone that night.

”Hmm?” Frigga had that sympathetic look on her face that said she already knew what he was talking about but that she likewise knew he needed to talk it out.

“I mean, I remember all of it. The day we met him, the day we got to take him home, his first tooth, first cold, first everything. How can I remember all that growing up and still have it all feel like yesterday?”

“It happens so fast,” she sighed.

“And they’re so close to flying the nest and we’re about to give them another shove. Are we right?”

“You’re the one who brought it up, and you were right. Every reason you gave was right.”

“I know. But now that it's here, it feels… let’s wait until near the end of their break, okay?”

“You won't get any argument from me.”

Odin was in the middle of a considerable deal and wasn't able to take off much more time than Frigga did. He at least was able to go in to work early, so that he got home in time to have lunch with the boys. They went out some afternoons for Loki to see some friends from high school, but not so often as to make Thor feel like a third wheel.

The four of them went out for dinner most evenings to spare the time that would have gone to cooking and cleaning. Both boys seemed to be having a good year, even if Thor did look a little uncomfortable when he was describing the campus climate after the Rose Bowl win.

"And then he comes home to me and I remind him he's still only human. I don't know how he stands it."

"I know, it's horrible," Thor teased back.

"How does next year's team look?" asked Frigga.

"We'll be good, but not like this year. Too many of our top players are graduating." He didn't sound like he minded.

 

They did have dinner at home on Saturday.

Odin had put it off as long as he could but he couldn't wait forever. "Have you thought about where you're going to live next year?" he asked.

They looked at each other. "We hadn't really talked about it yet," Thor said.

"We could probably draw something better as seniors, but I like the room we've got, if you want to stay again," Loki told him.

"I like it, too," agreed Thor. He turned back. "Why? Room draw isn't for a few weeks."

Odin cleared his throat. "Well, we've been thinking about it, even if you haven't, and we agreed it would be good for you to get an off-campus apartment. It's a chance to be a little more independent while you still have the school there as a safety net."

"That would be nice, but my scholarship doesn't cover off-campus housing," said Thor, sounding regretful.

"We discussed that," Frigga said. "Each term we'll give you each a check for the amount of room and board for you to use for rent and groceries. We checked out local rents and as long as you're responsible with it, you should be able to live comfortably."

"Key word being responsible," Odin chimed in.

"Yes, dad," Loki teased, just as Thor was saying, "Oh, wow. Thank you."

"Yeah. Thank you," Loki echoed.

"Now how about that chocolate cake?" Frigga asked with forced brightness. She jumped up and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'll help," Odin said, hurrying behind.

They could hear the excitement in the boys' voices rumbling from the next room, talking it over. "I think that went well," Frigga said as she dabbed at her eye.

"Very well. I'll just be a minute."

She took the stool beside his. "They're going to be fine."

"I know." He took her hand and gave it a long squeeze.


	32. Chapter 32

Loki was sitting at his desk doing the last proofread on an essay when he heard Thor's key in the lock. Or, to be more accurate, he heard Thor's key _at_ the lock. He seemed to be having some trouble getting it in, and Loki was about to get up and open the door when Thor spilled into the room. His face was pink and he was giggling.

"Are you giggling?" Loki asked.

Thor straightened his face instantly. "Nope," he said. He barely managed to get it out before he was taken by another fit of giggling.

Loki looked at him pointedly. "Are you high?"

"Yup." Thor sat down to tug off his wet boots. "Fandral did this whole hydroponic setup in his closet, and he just harvested. Volstagg made the most amazing bong out of some stuff Hogun stole from the chem department. It was _so_ big. It was like this," he said, holding his hands out to indicate its improbably large size. "It was in a dusty box, so it's not like he took stuff they need all the time," he added hurriedly.

Loki shrugged, not really caring who took what from departments he wasn't in. "And so you helped them smoke it."

"Of course I did. It's my duty as a friend and teammate."

"I see."

Thor walked over to his own desk, which stood back-to-back with Loki's, and suddenly disappeared behind it.

"You didn't pass out, did you? Thor? Thor?" Loki asked, craning his neck to look.

His answer came in the form of broad shoulders pushing his knees apart, followed by gentle nuzzling in his lap. He looked down to find Thor's head, his eyes closed and wearing a smile as contented as a cat's, rubbing his cheek against Loki's cock. Loki was wearing his favorite old knit pants that he liked when he was studying and they did nothing to dull the sensation, as denim would have.

"Do you want to?" Thor asked lazily.

Yes. Loki did. He really, really did. But his paper was due in an hour, and he needed to give it a last read-through before sending it in.

"As soon as my paper's done? I do, but..." he said, waving helplessly at his computer. He did like his classes but sometimes it was impossible to resent the impact they had on his sex life.

"Okay," Thor said. He planted a firm kiss right where Loki did _not_ need it right now and crawled away. He stretched out in bed, tossing his stress ball into the air and trying to catch it, periodically bursting into another fit of giggles when he missed. This was not going to be the world's best proofreading, but Thor was being way too fucking adorable to complain.

"There," Loki finally said, hitting _send_. He shoved his chair away from his desk and turned to Thor, smiling in anticipation. Thor looked so happy and so relaxed and this was going to be some seriously good sex.

Thor met his gaze. "The dining hall is about to open. Do you want to eat? I'm starving."

Loki sighed. "Lemme put my jeans on," he said.

Even for Thor, Thor ate a lot. Loki had eaten a hot sub, a huge pile of corn (somehow the frozen corn here was actually good), and an ice cream sandwich that he made with peanut butter cookies and chocolate ice cream. When he was done, Thor was still going strong on his second bowl of rice pudding. Loki sat and watched it disappear.

Thor finally pushed back from the table with a contented sigh and drummed his hands on his stomach. "You done?" he asked.

Loki nodded. "It happened quite a while ago, actually," he said with a smile.

The already cold air had a painfully nasty nip that hadn't been there before, and Loki hurried them back to their dorm, tugging Thor's hat around his ears when he seemed oblivious to the icy gusts.

Inside the lobby, they stamped the snow off and unzipped their coats. Thor held the staircase door for Loki with a ridiculous flourish, making him snort and grin.

Loki was making the turn on the first landing when he suddenly found himself upside down, doubled over Thor's shoulder. Even with Thor's puffy coat partly in the way, it still gave him a great view. "Thor? What are you doing?" he asked, as Thor casually continued up the stairs.

"I'm carrying you off to have my way with you, of course," Thor said reasonably. He patted Loki's ass with the hand that wasn't clamped firmly across the backs of Loki's thighs. "Watching this climb the stairs ahead of me was too much to resist."

He gave a wiggle - just a little one, he didn't want to throw off Thor's balance and break both their necks - and felt his cock stir at the low growl Thor made in response. Thor increased his speed, hurrying up the rest of the stairs. It still took way too long.

"Put me down, Thor!" Loki insisted as they reached the third floor.

Thor grumbled but lowered him to his feet. The hall was busy and Loki was more than a little glad to not be hauled through it like a bag of potatoes. It was bad enough that his hair was messy and his face was red from being bounced around upside down and there wasn't really anything he could do but try to play it off.

"Hey," he said casually to a staring freshman. He got a very unsure _hey_ in response. Just as he'd planned.

He leaned against the wall - casually, of course - as Thor again fought with the lock.

The second it shut behind them Thor had him against the wall, searing lips everywhere as he wrestled their clothes away. They parted just long enough to take off their shoes before Thor's mouth was back on him, urgent, demanding.

"Please, baby, I want it," he mumbled as he reached between them, curling his fingers around Loki's cock.

"Okay," Loki said. Perhaps not the smoothest answer, but with all the blood rushing south he was just happy he could still talk at all. He started to tug Thor farther into the room, but Thor stayed solidly in place.

"Hmm-mmm. Right here," he said.

"The wall?"

"Yes," Thor breathed.

"Okay, but how about an outside wall so the whole floor doesn't hear us," Loki suggested.

That worked. Not a minute later Loki had Thor pressed face first to the chilly plaster next to the south window, a slippery finger gliding inside him and bite marks starting to bloom across his shoulders. Thor's muscles rippled as he moved with Loki, his hands splayed against the wall and pressing back each time Loki slid in. He was moaning and despite the tension that sang through his back and arms his entrance was already half-relaxed. Even with the ease and speed in preparing him he was begging and his cock was smearing a dark patch of wetness on the utilitarian taupe paint well before Loki lined himself up. The angle was awkward and each failed attempt set Thor off into another burst of giggles that had to calm down before Loki could try again. He was just about to give up and bend Thor over his desk when he gave it another try and it _went._

Thor made a noise Loki had never heard before, like a gasp and a groan and a whimper all at once. He curled his hips back without moving away from the wall. "Oh, fuck... God, yes, Loki... _there_ ," he gasped.

Well. That was good to know.


	33. Chapter 33

"The guys on the team want to throw us a party, if you're up for it," Thor said between bites of lunch.

"Us?" Loki echoed.

"It's like a pay-it-back type thing. The players who are over twenty-one are responsible for the birthday parties of the guys hitting it."

"We're certainly doing _that_."

"You know what I mean," Thor said, laughing with him. "And they know that we share a birthday and I wouldn't celebrate it without you, so they want to throw it for both of us. It won't just be the team. It'd be all our friends. And then the guys do the cleaning up while we're free to stagger home."

"Oh. I knew you went to team parties but I didn't realize it was... So they do all the work and all the shopping and all we have to do is show up and drink?"

"And eat. No one's a very good cook so it's usually takeout from the Chinese place, they set us up with a whole spread. And we've been getting the cakes from Schweizer."

"Cakes, plural?" Patisserie Schweizer had opened in a little hole-in-the-wall downtown earlier that year and everything they ever made was basically a revelation.

"Yeah."

"So what's the downside?"

"I didn't say there was one."

"Thor, it's me. I know you. You were waiting for the most casual moment you could possibly find to bring it up."

Thor shrugged. "I wasn't sure if you'd want a party at all. I know you only agreed last year to make me happy."

"And I had a good time. It's our twenty-first and it's a Friday and next year on our birthday we'll probably be all stressed about the future so let's celebrate this one."

"Really?"

"Really."

"How about next year, instead of stressing about the future we spend it doing whatever you want to," Thor said after a moment's thought.

Loki grinned at him. "Deal."

 

Later that week he was getting coffee with Natasha and lamenting the difficulty in finding the perfect gift. "The first time it was so easy. I found the most perfect thing, and after that I found something that was really great, but now I feel like I've already done all the really impressive things."

"Yeah? You know, you guys have a long-term thing now," she said. "Maybe instead of focusing on doing something big and splashy you should think about something that might not seem as exciting but will make his day-to-day life better. More pleasant. There's got to be something he complains about. Think."

He took a slow sip of his mocha. It had a huge pile of whipped cream on top and had to be drunk carefully to avoid getting it all over his face, but it was worth it because every sip came with a little bit of softened cream on top so that it was disgustingly rich. "There is this one thing..."

Natasha listened, nodding. When he was done she whipped out her phone, typed something in, and held it up to show him something in her amazon order history. "Trust me. I know it doesn't look super exciting but it will make every day nicer. Every day he uses it, anyway."

"You sure?"

"He probably doesn't even know it exists. Trust me, he'll love it."

"I'll trust you. Can you send me a link so I make sure to get the same one as you?"

"Sure." A few seconds later his phone buzzed with a text.

"Thanks, Natasha," he said. "You're a really good friend."

 

It sucked that there was an alarm and classes when by all rights they should have gotten to sleep until noon and then spent the day in bed. Loki did his usual _no, don't go_ , reaching for Thor as Thor climbed over him, and Thor did his usual _I have to, baby, I have class_ and lingering for kisses even though he didn't really have time for them.

"Stefan agreed to trade shifts with me at the gym, though. I'll be home by three," Thor offered.

"I don't get out of class until a quarter to five."

"Then I'll just have to be here waiting for you with a big fat birthday bow on." Thor gave him one final peck and wiggled himself loose from Loki's grasping arms.

Loki rolled to his side to watch Thor get dressed. "The perfect outfit to get your birthday boy spanking."

"You're going to need yours, too," Thor pointed out.

"Oh, I know," Loki smiled.

Neither one managed to pay the slightest bit of attention in class but at least they were there when roll was taken and that was really the most that could be hoped for when there were spankings and presents waiting for them.

The campus bookstore didn't have much in the way of ribbon and when Thor got the skinny band around his waist and tied it the bow was limp and floppy, totally different from how he'd imagined. He cast a critical eye over his reflection and tugged it loose. Fortunately, there was somewhere else he could tie it and the bow wouldn't matter at all.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone for some smutty fluff? Yeah? Okay.

Loki's last class of the day was in one of the huge lecture rooms. He arrived fifteen minutes early to make sure he got one of the prized seats near the door; people who got stuck on the far side found themselves waiting forever to get out. The second that the prof wished them a good weekend he was out the door.

When he got home he found Thor stretched out in bed with his hands pillowing his head, wearing a smile on his face and a ribbon around his erect cock. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," Loki answered. He dumped his stuff on the floor and approached the bed. He ran one finger down the length of Thor's shaft. "Is this my present this year? I like it."

"It's your present every day. I got you something." Thor climbed out of bed and opened his bottom desk drawer. When he turned back he was holding a flat package. He held it out. "It's not fancy, but I hope you'll like it."

"Hang on, I got you something, too."

Loki got the box from its hiding place under a pile of clean laundry and sat back down beside Thor. "Here."

"You first," Thor told him.

"Okay." Loki tore off the paper to find a clear plastic pouch with something black inside. He turned it over. _Satin pillowcase,_  it read. He looked up.

"They're supposed to be good for people with curly hair, to keep it from getting frizzy. I thought it might buy you a little time in the morning. Maybe give you another snooze round before you have to get up. I know it's not fancy..."

Thor trailed off but there was a smile already blooming across Loki's face. "Hair control _and_ sleep? It's perfect. Thank you." He gave Thor the sort of kiss guaranteed to keep his ribbon snug a while longer. "Now yours."

"Okay." Thor ripped away the wrapping paper to find a teal box. On the top was a picture of a giant bathtub surrounded by flowers. _The Perfect Pedicure,_ it said.

"You sometimes complain about your feet feeling gross after practice. I know lotion helps, but I thought maybe this would help more."

Thor opened the box to find a bunch of strange and exotic tools. "I'll have to look up how to use these, but yeah. They usually feel sort of low-key gross all the time. I barely even notice anymore but it'll be really nice to have that gone. Thank you. I love it." He punctuated it with another long kiss. "Now, I believe there was talk of spankings?"

"Mmm. Stand up. Hands on the bed."

Thor did as he was told and Loki rose to stand beside him, caressing his pert ass before bringing down his palm with a brisk crack. Despite the noise it wasn't very hard, just a light sting, just enough to have him all pink and pretty by the end of the twenty-two. Thor cast a flirtatious glance over his shoulder just in time to watch the second one come down.

Loki rubbed his skin after each one, soothing it, before laying on the next. By the upper teens Thor was wiggling, arching up into it, teasing. Loki smiled. He could tease too, and did, letting his fingers slip into the tempting cleft. By the time he gave Thor _one to grow on_ Thor was itching to undress him.

"Your turn," Thor growled as he straightened.

The light danced in Loki's eyes as he answered. "Yes, sir."

He reached for the hem of his shirt but Thor grabbed his wrist. "Jeans."

Loki grinned and opened his jeans. He had them to mid-thigh when Thor took hold of his underwear and tugged them down as well. "That's enough. Over," Thor ordered, sitting down.

Getting up onto the bed with his legs effectively tied together was awkward but Thor watched him like it was the most perfect thing he'd ever seen. Loki stretched out across Thor's lap, his cock trapped between his thighs.

Despite the rough handling that was rapidly turning Loki's bones into jelly, the spanking was no harder than what he'd given Thor. It was slower, with his hands making long passes up and down Loki's body, the jumps between skin-to-skin contact and the muted sensation of being caressed through his clothes making it impossible to forget that he'd been undressed _just_ enough, that Thor couldn't wait. And the spanking itself was perfect for teasing and some pretty color. Sometimes he liked to feel it later, the burning glow reminding him of earlier play, but not when there was a party to attend.

"...and one to grow on," Thor said. The last one was a little sharper, bringing out a little more pink, and Thor smoothed his hand across the warmed skin before urging Loki up.

Once he was on his feet they attacked his clothes together, haste making them clumsy and ending up taking longer than if they hadn't rushed at all. "Now who's the overdressed one, hmm?" Loki asked, reaching for the ribbon and pulling it free.

"Certainly not me," Thor said airily.

Loki snorted and lunged, knocking Thor backwards onto the bed and falling on top of him.

"That was easy. Remind me, how are you a star football player?" Loki teased.

Thor's rumbling laughter reverberated from his chest into Loki's ribs. "It's a little different on the field where I'm expecting it."

"Ah. Any old excuse, huh."

"Mm-hmm," Thor agreed just before grabbing Loki's hips and flipping them. "Mmmm-hmmm," he murmured again, trailing his lips down the side of Loki's neck. "Come on, let's get the rest of the way on. This is too awkward with our feet hanging off."

The blankets were already shoved back so they just had to crawl up the mattress and settle on their sides facing each other, sharing a single pillow. Lazy hands became eager hands became desperate, racing hands until they came, spattering each other's bellies with groans of satisfaction.

"And we still have time to take a bath together before we have to get ready for the party," Thor said. His voice was rich with contentment and he made no move to get up. Their foreheads were pressed together and they kept catching each other's eyes and smiling.

"In a minute. Happy birthday, Thor. I love you."

"I love you, too. Happy birthday, Loki."


	35. Chapter 35

“This is nice,” Thor murmured. He had his arms wrapped around Loki’s chest, holding him a relaxed embrace, while Loki’s hands rested on Thor’s legs, thumbs drawing unconscious circles on the heat-glowing skin.

"Mmm. It is. We really need to take more after-sex baths." They mostly used them for foreplay and sometimes hand jobs, which were the only kind of sex that really worked very well in the slightly cramped tub, and all of that was great but this turned out to be pretty great, too. For one thing, much as Loki loved getting Thor hard, it did feel nice to lean back against him without anything jabbing into his back. And it felt so good simply to relax together in the warm water and savor indulgently slow kisses, twisting in Thor’s arms to meet his lips.

"I didn't look at the clock before we got in. How long do we have?" Loki asked.

"Almost two hours. Long enough not to worry about it. We'll be getting out because we're raisins well before we have to get ready."

"Okay." Loki shifted to the side and rested his head on Thor's shoulder with a contented sigh.

Thor rubbed his cheek against Loki's hair like he could scent-mark him. "I want a good tub in our apartment."

"It's already on the list."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you."

Loki laughed and squeezed Thor's legs.

*

The party was already going when they arrived. Fandral was at the door next to the handmade _CUPS $20_ sign. "Hey, guys! Here, on the house. Just for you."

Loki raised a brow.

"In case campus security comes. Sell the cups and make the beer free, they can't bust us for as much."

"I can't imagine they'd bust the football team for anything."

"Not this year," Fandral chuckled. "But it's good to keep the young ones in practice."

Loki followed Thor in. "I didn't even know students could use this room for parties," he said, gazing up at the carved wood ceiling in wonder.

The ballroom was in the third-oldest building on campus. The two oldest were plain, their ultilitarian designs telling of the financial struggles of a young school. This was the one that was built when a solid footing had been reached and it showed. The ceiling was all carved woodwork and the wall sconces were the original oil ones, refitted to electric but still with the swirly iridescent purple glass that Loki always wanted to steal.

"It's officially an Earth Day Everyday event," Thor answered.

"It's not Earth Day."

"Hence the 'everyday.' And the administration doesn't really care, it just has to look good on paper. Drinks are over there."

That much was obvious because it was where the people were, all of them congregating about one table. Loki tried to peer between them, seeking and not finding any bottles. "Is there anything but beer? All I see are kegs..."

"That's because it is all kegs."

Loki stopped dead in his tracks. " _Really?_ Fuck, Thor. If I'd known, I'd have brought something."

Thor grinned and took his hand. "Trust me."

Loki made a face but he let Thor pull him along.

"Hey, it's the birthday boys!" yelled Darcy. How she saw them from behind the mass of taller people neither one could tell but her voice was unmistakable and that was her hand sticking up and waving. Everyone else followed her lead, turning and smiling and yelling hellos as they approached.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea and there on the table between two kegs of beer.. was one of cider. "Told you to trust me," Thor grinned. "I know Woodchuck isn't the best, but..."

"Shut up. It's perfect," Loki answered, failing to stifle a matching smile.

Thor winked at him. "I love you, too."

The room got fuller just in the time it took them to fill their cups and they started making their way through, saying hi to their friends and getting showered with birthday wishes.

"Ah, twenty-one at last. Took you long enough," Tony teased. "I myself managed it months ago. Good work catching up though. Eventually."

"Yeah. Once we saw what it did to you, we agreed to put it off as long as possible," Thor answered.

"You look ready for round two there already," Tony told Loki.

"The stuff's like liquid candy but it goes down so easily," admitted Loki. 

"You're going to be carrying him home at this rate," Thor was informed as the three of them walked back to the drinks table.

"That's okay. And the food should be here soon. That'll help."

"Piggyback?" asked Loki, looking hopeful.

"Sure, if you want."

Loki took Thor's cup. "I'll get yours."

"Thanks, babe."

Sif and Anna came up to say hello to Thor and Tony as Loki disappeared into the crowd that was sort of halfway clustered around the drinks and halfway around Thor and Loki, waiting to take a turn at saying hi. "Happy birthday," they said in almost-unison.

"Thanks. It's good to see you, thanks for coming," Thor said, hugging them each with one arm.

"You too. I feel like it's been forever," Anna told him.

"I know, stuff's been so crazy. I'm glad this worked out. We had a couple maybes but only one no from our whole invite list. Loki just went to get drinks, he should be right back."

"He's surrounded by English majors," Sif chuckled.

Anna glanced over. "They're like an impenetrable wall. But presumably you'll get another beer one day."

Thor shrugged. "It's okay. I'm happy."


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I go and split the party into two chapters and then take forever to post the second half! Sorry about that. Here's some food and friends and flirting.

The food arrived just before ten, late enough that Loki had a chance to put away a considerable amount of cider on an empty stomach and it was Thor's turn to enjoy the sight of a loved one more relaxed and happy than this part of the term usually allowed. And he was extra happy when he found out that Thor had requested a change to the usual order that was placed for these parties.

"Double the Dan-Dan noodles," Thor whispered in Loki's ear as the first-year players started unpacking the overfilled bags.

"Fuck, I love you."

Thor chuckled. "I love you too."

" _Obviously._ Double noodles. You know you’re the best, right?"

“So I’ve been told. But I tried not to rest on my laurels.”

They were delicious, all greasy and peanut buttery and Loki probably would have eaten himself silly if Thor hadn’t reminded him to save room for cake. “And you want to get that sauce off your cheek before they sing to us, people usually take pictures.” Thor was seriously tempted to lick it off but even though Loki was relaxing some on the whole PDA thing he didn’t want to push it too far, so instead he gave him a paper napkin.

 

Natasha had an essay due at ten the next morning, which, as the prof had explained, seemed like cruelty except that she could have made it due in class Friday, almost a day earlier. "You're welcome to turn it then if you'd like, but Saturday is when I'll start grading. Consider it an automatic extension rather than sadism and we'll all be much happier."

"Monday would have been nicer," Clint said when she told him she'd be late to the party.

"Yeah, but I'll take what I can get. It's cool if you go without me and I'll come over when I'm done."

He hesitated. "You're sure you don't mind? I don't mind waiting."

"Don't be ridiculous. Go on. Have fun and I'll see you when I see you."

"Okay. Good luck with the writing," he said, leaning in for a kiss.

"Thanks. I'll take it."

Fortunately, she really had gotten it mostly done earlier in the week, and got to the ballroom not much after eleven. There was a large underclassman selling cups at the door and another one not only checking names against a list but checking ID's.

"You wouldn't believe how many people have been trying to crash," he apologized after seeing her student card.

"Oh, I think I would."

She went in to the low-lit room just in time to see Thor and Loki each cutting a cake. Clint was near the front of the crowd so she waited near the back until enough people had moved away that she could reach him without shoving. By the time she wormed her way up, he was talking to the birthday boys.

"Hey, guys. Happy birthday," Natasha said as she wrapped her arm around Clint's waist. He gave her a warm smile hello.

"Hi! Thanks. It's really good so far," Loki said. His eyes were very bright and his cheeks were red and he was even slouching a bit.

"Yeah. Thanks," echoed Thor.

"Good party. Did you already do presents and stuff?"

Thor nodded. "After class. Loki gave me this stuff to stop my feet feeling like crap after practice. I can't wait to try it."

"Oh, that's nice. Loki? How about you?"

"Pillowcases for curly hair. I'm so excited. Tomorrow's laundry day and then goodbye frizz and hello snooze alarm."

"How sweet of him. You both had such clever ideas."

Loki gave her a suspicious look but just answered, "I know. What kind of cake would you like? There's lemon, German chocolate, chocolate bourbon, and tres leches."

"The Swiss bakery is doing tres leches?"

"I know, but it's really good," Thor told her. "It's my favorite of the four."

"And you've tried them all," Clint said.

"We both have. It's our birthday," Loki answered reproachfully.

"I'll go for it," she said.

"Cool. Clint?"

"German chocolate."

Thor reached over with his long arms and grabbed them each a plate from the spread on the table.

"Good turnout," noted Clint.

Loki nodded. "It's just right. All our friends and nobody else."

 

After the food and cake – which meant, basically, once everyone had drunk enough to dance without being self-conscious – the music was turned up and the lights turned down at one end of the long room. Loki gave Thor a hopeful look. “You want to dance?” Thor asked, pretending to sound surprised.

Loki snorted and grabbed his hand.

“Your hair smells good,” Loki said into Thor’s ear when a slow song came on.

“Oh. Yeah. I borrowed your shampoo. I was out.”

Loki pouted and Thor felt a flash of panic that he should have asked first, but then Loki was lamenting, “My hair never smells that good from it.”

“Are you crazy? Yes it does. Better.”

“No way.”

“Way.”

“Nun-uh.”

“Uh,” Thor teased, making Loki laugh hard enough to stop dancing.

“You are so silly,” Loki told him.

Loki was still sniffing Thor’s hair when Thor gave him a piggyback ride home.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never had half this much fun apartment-hunting. I feel like I should speak to the manager or something. Demand a refund.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Thor asked.

"Our first legal Saturday where we're not too hungover from our first legal Friday... I think that we're ethically obligated to go out."

"I couldn't agree more," Thor answered gallantly. "What about the new place downtown? I heard it's pretty good."

"The one under the hippie shop?"

"Yeah. They have a deck by the river and everything."

"Perfect. If only I didn't have all this reading first..."

Thor swooped down and kissed him. "I know. I have to go to the library, the book I need is on reserve, and then I'm having dinner with Jane. Meet you back here at seven?"

Loki sat up, chasing Thor's lips as he tried to straighten. "Mmm, seven. And then we'll go watch fireflies and talk about the hunt. We really have to make up our minds."

"I know. We'll decide tonight. Pinky swear."

Thor's face was like slate as he held out his pinky for Loki to link it with his own. Loki pursed his lips to squash a grin as they shook on their agreement.

The hunt. That had been almost the sole source of conversation for the last week. They had to agree on what they were looking for in an apartment if they had any hope of actually finding and signing on one before all the good ones were taken.

The problem lay in differing priorities, and this was really the first time in their lives that they had to deal with something like that where the choice would really affect them for more than a day or two. Not that they had any real complaints about the other's priorities. Quite the opposite, in fact. But still.

 

"I want something nice and roomy. We've had a single room for so long, I can't wait to live somewhere that we can chase each other around naked whenever we want," Thor said with a seductively raised brow.

"That does sound fun," Loki began in a measured tone, but before he got around to pointing out the drawbacks Thor was kissing him and then he was giving Loki a demonstration of what it was, exactly, that he planned to do to Loki once he caught him, and the moment was lost.

 

"Look, Thor. I have the numbers all worked out," Loki said when Thor got home the next day. He swiveled his monitor around for Thor to see the spreadsheet. "We can get a nice little one-bedroom for seven-forty a month, and say we each spend a hundred a week on food, then we'd have enough extra to buy..." He switched to his browser and proceeded to show Thor all the sex toys they could get with the savings. "...and if we eat a lot of oatmeal we can get even more."

"Yeah. Those are... go back one?"

Loki clicked back to the sex swing.

"Oh. That would be really fun. But if we had a tiny place, where would we put it?"

"I didn't say _tiny,_ I said little. And it's not like I'm trying to go overboard and say we should get a studio, even though if we did we could get this as well." Another click and Thor's eyes almost fell out of his head.

"But there would _really_ be no place to put that in a studio," Thor pointed out with a surge of will.

"We'd just have to put a throw over it when guests came," Loki murmured, leaning in close, and that was the end of that conversation, as well.

 

And so it had gone, day after day, and while they were definitely getting some good sex out of their imaginings they weren't getting any closer to an agreement.

Loki had an early dinner with people from Methods to talk about their final presentation – their group was doing formalism, which he wasn't particularly interested in, but by the time it was his turn to pick the only options left were that or queer theory, and he'd already had more than enough of being the token voice during class discussions – and went from there down the low sloping road towards the river.

The water was high after almost a week of rains and Thor had nabbed an outside table and he was sitting there, watching the churning current as he waited.

"Hey, babe. I brought my laptop to look at listings," Loki said as he sat down.

"Thanks, that was a good idea. I already ordered and I think this is us," Thor answered as his gaze shifted to the doorway behind Loki.

A few seconds later a staffer (wearing a mercifully theme-free outfit) was setting their drinks in front of them. They had matching glasses, tall and frosty with condensation, filled with something thick and brown and creamy.

"What is it?" Loki asked once the serve was out of earshot.

"A shake with chocolate ice cream, whiskey, and kahlua." Loki groaned in anticipation and Thor chuckled. "Yeah, that's basically what I did when I saw it on the menu."

They clinked their glasses and smiled at each other with their eyes over the rims as they savored the first sip.

Loki got up and dragged his chair around to be next to Thor's, so they could look out over the water together. He sat down and Thor caught his free hand in his own. "How about we just enjoy this for a while first?" Loki asked.

Thor rubbed his thumb along Loki's fingers. "Perfect."


	38. Chapter 38

The next weekend they had narrowed their list down to four; two small and cheap, two big and roomy, and they'd managed to get appointments to view them all on the same day. Lots of people had picked that weekend to do the same thing, so they were all group viewings. Whether that made it weirder or less or weird to be shown around someone else's home was hard to say. Not that they even went into the first one.

"Thor... the air is full of the sounds of happy children," Loki said, walking very close.

"That's because there's a daycare next door. It's good they're happy."

"Okay, in theory I agree with you, but they're going to be at it all bright and early after their parents drop them off."

"Skip out?"

"Yeah. I need more coffee, anyway."

The next viewing was at eleven, in a somewhat worn building on the east side of town. There were eight other people there to see it and once the agent arrived and took them inside there was hardly room for them all to stand. She started out by talking about the nice view and good parking before adding, "But the big selling point on this one is the closet." She opened the door to reveal a huge space packed so full of random crap it almost needed buttresses.

"Lots of storage space," Loki murmured to Thor.

"And the bathroom is on the small side, but the tub is a nice size," she added. It was already standing open so they went over and looked in.

"It is a lot bigger than the one we have now," Thor admitted.

"I like it..." Loki whispered.

Thor made a noncommittal noise.

"It's only two blocks from Juana's, too," Loki pointed out as they headed back downstairs.

"Yeah. You want to get lunch?"

"You said the magic word."

They got there right at noon and the place was packed. "Shit, do you see any empty tables?" Loki asked, standing on tiptoe.

"No, but I see Jane sitting by herself. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Loki agreed. She'd loosened up a lot and didn't really bother him at all anymore. By coincidence, he'd first noticed it about the time that she told him that she thought he and Thor made a great couple, and she'd been steadily improving since then. They wiggled their way through the crowded dining room over to her table.

"Hi, Jane. Are you waiting for anyone?" Thor asked.

She looked up from her book. "Hey, guys! Nope, I'm here by myself. I needed a break from apartment hunting. Please join me, I'd love some company."

"We're apartment hunting, too," Loki said as they sat down.

"Find anything good so far?"

"We looked at a couple studios this morning. One seemed like a possibility. We're going to see a couple bigger ones this afternoon. You?"

"There's a place downtown I liked okay, but I'm still looking. The guy really tried to get me to take the attic apartment, but the layout was really awkward."

It was hard to say whose ears pricked up faster. "Awkward how?" Thor asked with studious casualness.

"The door opens into the middle of the hall, so you go in and there's just this wall facing you, and it's really long and narrow. And like, to go into the bedroom you have to walk through the kitchen, and I know that's not a big deal since I'm going to live alone, but then the bathroom is at the opposite end of the hall by the living room and after three years of having to go down the hall to the shared bathroom I just want something close."

"Sounds good for... um, guests, though," Loki said.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Where did you say it was?" Thor asked.

"Downtown. Only a few blocks from campus."

"I don't remember seeing it listed," Thor told her.

"He's really old, he only listed it in the newspaper."

"Huh. Do you happen to have his number handy?" asked Loki.

She pulled her purse into her lap and dug through it. "Here you go," she said, handing him a sheet of paper with a bunch of numbers crossed out. "It's the fourth one."

"I'll order for you," Thor told him as he stood to go outside and call.

When Loki got back to the table he found Thor and Jane discussing the new chemistry building and how ugly it was. Thor looked up, expectant.

"One thirty. Just enough time to eat and get there."

"It's really weird..." Jane warned them again.

"I think maybe we can make it work."

The owner was there waiting for them when they arrived, clearly delighted that someone was interested. "Three flights of stairs and no elevator, but you two have young knees," he told them as he led them up.

Jane was right about the entrance feeling abrupt, but once they looked around... it was a little more expensive than Loki wanted, a little smaller than Thor wanted, and the sides of the rooms slanted downwards, but the bathtub was big and the angled walls meant that the windows looked up instead of out, granting perfect privacy.

They didn't even have to look at each other before telling him, "We'll take it."


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to msmynx for the idea for the first letter! (And credit for the second letter's idea goes to the asshole who wrote something similar to Dear Prudence. Asshole.)
> 
> Super giant apologies if I messed up the answer to letter one, please let me know if I did and I'll fix it. It's sort of cobbled together from various advice columns that were praised on the AVEN so I hope I did ok.

_I'm almost twenty and I'm still a virgin. My roommate keeps trying to set me up with people but when I go out with them, however nice they are, I don't feel anything. No crush, no lust, no anything. It's not like I don't get turned on sometimes, but it's a general feeling, not something that's directed at another person. I'm starting to get really scared that there's something wrong with me. One of my other friends said I shouldn't worry because some people are just late bloomers, but how much longer will it take?_

_Frequently Afraid Love, Laughter, Fellowship, Likely Omitted Without Ever Resolving_

 

Hi FALLFLOWER (good work with that one, by the way),

First off, since you say you've *never* experienced sexual attraction for another person, I really doubt there's something wrong with you. If you said it had dropped off suddenly, that's what would make me worry. Still, for your own peace of mind, it can't hurt to see a doctor and get checked out. And maybe your friend is right, that it's something that will come to you in the future. College is stressful and for some people that affects their sexual feelings.

My first thought when I read your letter, though, is that you sound like maybe you're aromantic and asexual (or aro/ace, if you want to save yourself a bunch of typing in the search bar). 'Asexual' is sort of an umbrella term for an orientation with lots of variation, both in terms of sex and love. The Asexuality Visibility and Education Network is a good place to start reading to learn more about the nuances. Take a look around and maybe you'll find something that resonates with your own experience. If you do discover that you're ace, remember that you're not alone, there's nothing wrong with you, it is okay to come out, and it is also okay not to come out. It's okay for you to be you, whoever you come to learn that is. And about your signature - love takes many forms. Even if the romantic sort isn't for you, that doesn't mean you won't have others. The only thing that's not okay is if it _does_ turn out you're a late bloomer, please remember you can't go around smugly telling other people they'll change their minds one day.

 

***

 

_I've recently discovered that I'm polyamorous. I love my girlfriend but the hookups I've been having are amazing. I know she wouldn't be into it, but I also think that our culture's focus on monogamy goes against our biological natures. Keeping all that in mind, isn't it best if I just don't worry her about it and keep things quiet?_

_Poly Amorous Lover_

 

Hi PAL,

First, I want to applaud you at making this discovery so early. Many people, so overwhelmed by the social prudery that forces monogamy down our throats, don't come to discover that it is unnatural for us to restrict ourselves to a single person. And you're obviously a great partner or you wouldn't even bother to write and ask me. You're totally right that you should just keep things quiet, don't upset her, and enjoy your discreet hookups.

There. Is that what you thought I was going to say, you raging shitbeast? There's a word for people like you and it's not 'polyamorous,' it's 'cheater.' Trying to dress it up like you're so benevolent and enlightened is just shabby and pathetic. And before you dismiss this as me saying that polyamory isn't real, it **is** real. So what's the difference between being poly and being a cheater? One is practiced with openness, honesty, and **genuine** concern for one's partner/s well-being, and the other is done with apps that you set to silent.

My advice? Tell her the truth, and when she dumps you and spends an hour telling you what a complete asshole you are, sit there and take it. And then, if you think you really are poly and not just a chronic creep, try to learn something from it.

***

There was one more letter in his newspaper inbox.

_I want to do something special for my boyfriend. We met when we were assigned the same room our first year and we've been together as a couple for two and a half years now, and I just keep falling for him more. Like, he spent Valentine's Day indulging me in a kink that I've had a thing for YEARS, and it's kind of a weird one and it took all day and when I thanked him he said he liked it too because he likes to make me happy. So now I want to return the favor and it has to be absolutely perfect. Do you have any suggestions for a good surprise?_

_-Love my babe_

Loki smiled to himself as he read it. This one he'd answer privately.

He uploaded his file to the newspaper's dropbox and sat back with a triumphant sigh. "It's done. My last column is done and submitted and now I want a reward."

Thor gave him that knowing grin that never failed to do things to him. "Yeah? What do you _deserve_ , though?"

"Hmm. I did do a _very_ good job on this one. I would say I deserve... a fabulous blow job on a black sand beach while handsome cabana boys fan us with palm fronds and bring us pina coladas for afterwards."

Thor's laughter hit faster than he could open his mouth and instead escaped through his nose in an undignified snort that set Loki off laughing, too. "Any good letters this time?" Thor asked.

Loki cocked his brow. "Maybe. You're just going to have to wait and see, like everybody else."

"I see. Well," Thor said, setting aside his book and standing up, "your side of the bed has black sheets that we can pretend are sand. As for the rest..." He turned their clunky box fan around to blow towards the bed. "I think that's the best we can do."

"There was one other part that we could do."

"I guess if you want pina coladas I can go get some mix. I really should spend that time studying, though."

While he was talking, Loki had gone over to the bed and shoved the pile of covers out of the way. "Come on, silly."

While there was something to be said for the slow (or fumbling and frantic) reveal of a button-down shirt, Thor was confident he would never get enough of pulling Loki's tees off. The smooth skin against the backs of his fingers as he slid them up, the staccato of swelling ribs and the sight of the beautiful and beloved body revealed as Thor raised his hem... He could happily do this every day for the rest of his life and it still wouldn't be enough. But right now he had Loki shirtless and ready for more.

He eased Loki's jeans and clinging boxers down his narrow hips before casting his own clothes hurriedly off. Loki's cock betrayed his anticipation, not hard yet but definitely getting fuller. Thor nudged Loki's legs apart and knelt between them. "So how does this fabulous blow job get started?"

Loki shifted, just enough to show off the slender length of his body, and his face so innocent like he had no idea how it affected Thor. "Don't they always start with kisses?"

"That seems very likely," Thor answered seriously.

All the ones Thor gave did, anyway, and so he did now, first Loki's lips, and then his ears, and then the hectic pulse as he began kissing his way down. Loki arched up at the first brush of lips on his cock, his breath as bright and trembling as the fluid that began beading on the head when Thor drew back to gaze down.

"Turn around," Loki told him. "I want to do you, too."

Thor didn't have to be told twice. He moved over beside Loki and rested on his elbow to lean over and take Loki back into his mouth while Loki wrapped his hand around Thor's cock, his thumb smearing the sticky pearl of precum over the head. In principle, sixty-nining seemed like it should be perfect - they both loved both giving and receiving, so why not enjoy everything at once? - but in practice, they found that it was difficult to really focus on either one well enough to successfully get into it. Why it was easier when one of them used his hand they really didn't know, but it was. The weather had been warm enough that even though it was late they had their windows open and now the cooling air streamed over their heated skin, so that it was impossible to tell whether it was the air or the eagerness that was sending those frissons down their spines.

Loki came first, spilling with an abrupt moan, and Thor didn't raise his head until he'd swallowed everything Loki had to give. Loki's movements had gone erratic when he came and now he evened them out, giving Thor the fast even rhythm he needed to get off. He watched Thor's face for the signs he always loved to see: the squeezed-shut eyes, the parted lips and look of concentration that promised his own climax was about to hit.

"Try to get it all on me," Loki told him weakly. "I just changed the sheets."

Thor nodded, tight-lipped, and shuffled closer. When he came it was glorious, waves of silver and heat behind his eyes, Loki's name a choked gasp on his lips. Loki grabbed the waiting towel and cleaned himself while Thor turned around for Loki to melt into his embrace.

Thor nuzzled his face against Loki's throat. "I need to study a little more. You go to sleep, babe."

"You need to sleep, too."

"I will. Promise."

"Okay," Loki allowed.

Thor got up and pulled on his cozy knit pants and a worn tee before sitting down at his desk and adjusting his lamp. "Will my light bother you if I have it like this? I can work in the lounge if that's better."

"No, it's fine."

"Okay. Sleep well. Love you."

"Love you too. Study well."

Loki drifted off to the soft sounds of pages turning and Thor's breathing, ever so slightly louder when he reached a bit he had to think about to make sense of it.

He woke and rolled over to check the clock. Thor was still up reading and it was after three. "Hey, you promised to sleep," he said, getting up.

"I know. I just want to finish this chapter and the next one and then I'll come to bed, I swear."

Loki circled around behind him and bent forwards, wrapping his arms around Thor's shoulders and pressing his cheek to Thor's scratchy one. "Just think. This time next year, you won't have to worry about this."

Thor chuckled. "Seniors have to take finals, too," he pointed out. He leaned back into Loki's embrace, savoring the gentleness of his touch as much as the promise in his words.

"Yeah, but they don't matter, not in the spring. You'll already have your grad school acceptance, you won't have to keep your GPA up for your scholarship. You can just breeze on in and take the tests and how you do on them won't matter."

"I do actually care about learning stuff, you know," Thor teased. He twisted around to meet Loki's eyes. Their color was lost in the dim light but still they shone. "Anyway, I like my profs. I don't want them to feel like I don't care about their classes."

"All I'm saying is, one B won't be the end of the world. The end is in sight."

"Mmm. That'll be nice."


	40. Chapter 40

"This feels weird," Thor said.

"I know. I can't believe we've only had it two years, it feels like it's become our home."

"Yeah. But maybe being ours is what made it home. Our apartment will be nice."

Loki nodded. "I'm still going to miss it, though."

Thor leaned over to press his shoulder into Loki's. They were sitting on the side of the bed, taking a break from packing up their stuff. They'd already taken two carloads of boxes over to the new building. The apartment didn't become theirs until June fifteenth, a week after finals ended, but the landlord was clearly used to college students and let incoming tenants put their stuff in his first-floor office until their spaces were freed up. Their summer subletter was a guy from the team who Thor said was trustworthy enough to carry their boxes upstairs and then leave them alone.

"I'm going to miss it, too," Thor said.

Their books were already done except for a couple textbooks Thor wanted to take home. The two fat volumes were on their sides so they wouldn't fall over and their presence made the shelves look even emptier.

"What's next on the list?" Loki asked.

"Winter clothes, towels, and the printer."

"Okay," Loki sighed, standing. He picked up the tape gun and put together more boxes as Thor began taking things off hangers and stacking neatly folded piles on the end of the bed. "I can't believe we're going to have to do all this again in a year."

"Yeah, but when we get to grad school, if we find somewhere good then we won't have to do it again for a long time."

"That sounds like an ominously big if. How many addresses have Steve and Bucky had, so far?"

"I bet they've got this down to a science, though. They could probably be all packed in five minutes."

There was just enough time to run the next carload over and grab lunch from a drive-thru before Loki had to drop Thor off for his last exam. "I hope that thing doesn't give you food poisoning. It would suck to get the runs in the middle of your test," Loki said as Thor ate half his fried-chicken-wrapped taco in a single bite.

"I am a man of steel. No coli can touch me."

"Do the people who follow you around on campus and worship your every footstep have any idea what a total nerd you are?"

"Nope," Thor said, giving the  _p_ an extra pop of satisfaction.

Loki flashed him a grin. "Our little secret, huh?"

"I'll be sure to add it to the list."

"You do that."

 

Loki had taken his last final the previous morning, and he'd meant to go back to their room and do a miraculous round of packing but the day had gotten even hotter than expected and while for Thor, who was used to running around in this sort of heat wearing twenty pounds of safety gear, carrying the boxes had been no big deal, it was different for Loki. Between carrying four boxes of stuff through three blocks of sun because that was the nearest he could find parking, leaving the a/c off and windows down because he didn't want his car smelling like Taco Bell, and then walking another two blocks through the blazing sun back to the dorm, he was dripping sweat all he could think of was a shower.

He was tugging off his sweaty tee before he even had his door closed and left it and his even grosser shoes and socks on the short patch of floor between the room door and the bathroom His jeans and boxers came off after he had his feet on blessedly cool tile and he moved to three different tiles, letting them leech out some of the heat, before turning on the water. He set it to tepid which was as cold as he could ever stand, and climbed in and tilted his face up to catch the stream. It ran down his scalp like fingers and he turned in slow circles, making sure it reached every part of his head, letting his skin shed its warmth. He must have rinsed for almost ten minutes before he even reached for his shampoo.

 

Thor's exam was just as Professor Jackson had told them it would be. Straightforward, nothing meant to trip or trick. There was one question on something that had confused him almost painfully until he'd visited her office hours and gotten help.

_"How hard is the test going to be?" someone asked in the last week of class._

_She smiled like she didn't mean it. "That is entirely up to you. I have covered all the material that the department expects you to learn in this course and your lab work was designed to reinforce the lectures and reading assignments as well as giving you practical experience. If you paid attention and studied, it will be easy. If you didn't, it will be hard."_

_Another hand shot up._

_"And college isn't cheap," she added. "You're here to get an education and I'm not in the business of wasting other people's money."_

_The hand went down and then she smiled for real._

Perhaps two-thirds of the class finished and turned in their tests within about five minutes of each other, smiling and mouthing a silent _have a good break_ to each other as they passed on the stairs down to her podium and back up to the door. Thor paused to look over the faces of the people who remained and there were three he couldn't remember ever seeing in there a single time, all term.

He walked back across campus, the path quicker now that most people were done and gone for the summer. They had one more carload of stuff, he thought, and then all that remained in their room would be things to pack and take with them for the summer. It was almost four. They would be done by six if they tried, and then there wouldn't be a single thing they had to do until morning and he couldn't even remember the last time he'd been that free.

He got back to the room and found Loki, sprawled out naked in front of a fan, sound asleep and looking all damp and delicious. He got nearly five minutes of a perfect view before Loki stirred into consciousness and fixed Thor with languid eyes.

"I meant to finish up as a surprise, but nature had other plans."

"It's okay. It's hot. I bet you'll find it easier if you stay like that while you work..."

"Mmm. You like this?"

"I do. You know I do. Now get that pretty ass out of bed and working before it gets itself a spanking. Or before it doesn't. Whichever will make you get up and work."

Loki snorted but he got up and picked up the tape gun. "What if my pretty ass wants kisses?"

"Oh, I think we can work something out."

It was closer to seven when they finished, late enough that they agreed to go out to eat instead of rushing back to the dining hall. The riverfront bar was quiet now that most of the students were gone, and even arriving at the hour they did, they were able to get a table that had both lots of shade and a good breeze.

It was late when they got back to their room, but not too late for Loki's ass to get what it wanted. Thor's got some, as well.

In the morning they (not without a tinge of regret) separated the beds, then stripped them of their linens and threw everything into their laundry bags. All that remained after that was to pack up the last of their toiletries, do one last run down to the car, and turn in their keys... and that was that. Next time they set foot on campus, they'd be seniors. One last look back and they walked hand in hand to the car.

Four hours to Beuley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so another school year comes to an end. Thanks for all the lovely comments and for sticking around through an unexpectedly long hiatus. Stay tuned for summer vacation!


End file.
